The Veteran's pancreatitis worsened after a VA endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography in April 2022, and the Board has ordered remand to determine if this worsening was due to VA fault or an unforeseeable event.
The deciding factor: The opinion provided by the VA clinician is inadequate for deciding the claim as it does not address whether the aggravation of pancreatitis was due to carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, error in judgment, or similar instance of fault on the part of VA.
- Claimed conditions
- pancreatitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2024
- Citation
- A24086806
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 A24086806.
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 pancreatitis and a rating higher than 10 percent for the veteran's right index finger amputation residuals due to insufficient evidence linking these conditions to military service.
- 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.
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