The Board remands the Veteran's claim for an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for service-connected stricture of the esophagus prior to August 31, 2015, due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary because the Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination addressing the current nature and severity of his stricture of the esophagus, which is required for evaluation under applicable rating criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- stricture of the esophagus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 16, 2025
- Citation
- A25044306
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,113 · Granted: 47% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
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 A25044306.
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 has granted service connection for esophageal disability, including hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), stricture of the esophagus, gastritis, and eosinophilic esophagitis. The decision finds that the Veteran's symptoms began during active service and have continued since then.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for eosinophilic esophagitis, stricture of the esophagus and hiatal hernia.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claim for a gastrointestinal disability to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors and ensure adequate medical evidence is provided.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and effective dates have been denied.,The Veteran is not entitled to a higher rating for his stricture of the esophagus or GERD, as these conditions are already at their maximum schedular ratings.
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