The Board denied a higher disability rating for the Veteran's hiatal hernia with GERD and remanded the claim for service connection for essential thrombocythemia.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not meet the criteria for a 30 percent rating due to his symptoms being less severe, while the remand was necessary to obtain an adequate VA opinion regarding the etiology of the essential thrombocythemia in relation to service exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- essential thrombocythemia, hiatal hernia with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- November 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25098185
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 948 · Granted: 52% (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 A25098185.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
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 essential thrombocythemia is remanded for further evaluation and clarification of its etiology.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are remanded due to the need for additional VA medical opinions and treatment records.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted an initial rating of 70 percent for essential thrombocythemia from August 10, 2022, to April 7, 2025. From January 1, 2025, he was granted a TDIU.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for payment of non-VA care provided at Mercy Health Saint Ritas Medical Center LLC on May 14, 2021 is granted due to the timely filing and eligibility under 38 U.S.C. § 1728.
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