The Board remands the claim for further development and a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's GERD is related to his active service, including any conceded toxic exposure risk activities.
The deciding factor: The VA examination/medical opinions were found inadequate as they did not address whether the Veteran's GERD was possibly etiologically related to other TERAs resulting from his MOS and/or non-deployment assignments.
- Claimed conditions
- gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2025
- Citation
- A25096285
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 A25096285.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the failure to schedule VA examinations related to his claimed disabilities. The Board finds that there was a pre-decisional error in not ensuring proper communication with the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty to assist error regarding the Veteran's gastrointestinal conditions, including GERD. The Veteran needs to be examined for his claimed GERD condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for adjustment/mood disorder, gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD), left lower extremity radiculopathy, right lower extremity radiculopathy, and neurogenic bladder disability as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected disabilities.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for gastrointestinal reflux disease (GERD) on a direct basis, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor.
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