The Board remands the claim for service connection for gastroesophageal disability, to include GERD and hiatal hernia, due to an inadequate VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The June 2023 VA medical opinion is found to be inadequate as it does not provide a reasoned rationale connecting the Veteran's in-service symptoms with his current condition, nor does it consider the synergistic effect of all toxic exposure risk activities during service.
- Claimed conditions
- gastroesophageal disability, GERD, hiatal hernia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25022882
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 a head injury, headache disorder, erectile dysfunction, left earache disorder, chronic fatigue, right shoulder disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, right foot disorder, GERD, and left shoulder disorder, as the evidence did not support current diagnoses of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for chronic kidney disease, atrial fibrillation, hiatal hernia, COPD, and prostate cancer as a result of toxic exposure during the Veteran's military service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 30 percent disability rating for GERD and hiatal hernia, effective March 31, 2020, but denied an earlier effective date and a higher initial rating.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeal of all claims currently pending before the Board, including those for an earlier effective date for hypothyroidism and higher ratings for various conditions.
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