The Veteran's right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy is granted a 40 percent disability rating. The issue of service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is remanded due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the relationship between GERD and her service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide an explanation on whether the Veteran's medications cause or aggravate her GERD, which is necessary to determine if there is a secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- right lower extremity sciatic radiculopathy, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2024
- Citation
- 24001365
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,017 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 24001365.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including right shoulder disability, abdominal hernia, GERD, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral foot disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during the appellant's period of active duty.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for sinusitis and remanded the Veteran's claims for chronic lower back pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, neck pain, and GERD.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for right foot disability status post Mitchell's bunionectomy is granted with an effective date of July 25, 2023.,The Veteran's appeal for a higher rating for left foot disability status post Mitchell's bunionectomy is dismissed as it does not meet the criteria for an earlier effective date.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left lower extremity radiculopathy and denied the claims for right knee disability, erectile dysfunction, GERD, sleep apnea, and hypertension. The decision is remanded for further action on these issues.
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