The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for pancreatitis, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, due to an inadequate VA examination and insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: The October 2022, January 2023, and February 2023 VA etiological opinions were found to be inadequate because they disregarded the Veteran's probative reports of ongoing, lay-observable residuals during the appeal period and ignored potentially-favorable evidence in support of secondary service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- pancreatitis
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2024
- Citation
- 24032968
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for pancreatitis, GERD, and a dental disorder as secondary to the Veteran's throat cancer, but denied an initial compensable rating for throat cancer under DC 6819. The Board also granted a 20 percent rating for urinary frequency as a residual of prostate cancer.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for pancreatitis as there was no evidence of a recurring attack of typical severe abdominal pain or episodes requiring ongoing outpatient medical treatment.
- Granted
The Board granted an initial 50 percent rating for the Veteran's cirrhosis of the liver with portal hypertension, Wilson's disease, gastrointestinal bleeding, and pancreatitis based on a history of one episode of hemorrhage from portal gastropathy.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for pancreatitis and remanded the claim for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to sinusitis.
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