The Board has determined that the VA medical examination provided was inadequate for addressing the Veteran's secondary service connection claim. The case is being remanded to obtain a new opinion from a VA examiner.
The deciding factor: The previous VA examination did not address the issue of secondary service connection, which is necessary to determine if the stricture of esophagus disability is related to the service-connected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Claimed conditions
- stricture of esophagus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2024
- Citation
- 24001667
Veterans Law Judge
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 24001667.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for esophageal stricture and gastroesophageal reflux disease due to a failure to obtain a medical opinion regarding the latter condition. The claim will be reconsidered after obtaining such an opinion.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for stricture of the esophagus, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and his military service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for stricture of esophagus, right knee disability, and denied the claim for service connection for prostate cancer. The appeal for a higher rating for tinnitus was also denied.
- Denied
The Board denied a higher rating for the Veteran's hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and stricture of esophagus (esophageal disability), finding that his symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 7346.
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