The Board denied service connection for gastrointestinal signs or symptoms, finding no causal relationship between the Veteran's current condition and her military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that it is less likely than not that the Veteran's GERD was caused by toxic exposure during service, citing known risk factors such as diet and lifestyle issues. The Board found this opinion to be more probative than the Veteran's lay statements.
- Claimed conditions
- gastrointestinal signs or symptoms
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25032004
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran requested the withdrawal of all issues currently on appeal, and the Board dismissed the appeals.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions due to an error in verifying the Veteran's active service and obtaining his complete service personnel records and treatment records.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for gastrointestinal, upper respiratory, and cardiovascular signs or symptoms effective August 10, 2022, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and erectile dysfunction. Tinnitus was also granted.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for neuropsychiatric signs or symptoms, fatigue, headaches, dyspnea, an unspecified anxiety disorder, non-allergic rhinitis, and gastrointestinal signs or symptoms due to undiagnosed illness. A 10 percent rating was also granted for a right foot scar.
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