Irritable Bowel Syndrome VA Claim Grants

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. A September 2016 rating decision issued by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) denied the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a back disability, characterized as lumbosacral strain. The Veteran did not appeal the decision; thus, the decision became final. 2. In July 2018, the Veteran filed an intent to file a claim. In September 2018, he filed a request to reopen his claim of entitlement to service connection for a back disability. 3.…

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

Preliminary Matters The Veteran had honorable active-duty service with the United States Army from April 2003 to November 2014. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2019 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran was scheduled to testify at a Board hearing in July 2021. However, prior to the scheduled hearing, the Veteran withdrew his request for a hearing. As such, the scheduled hearing was not conducted. New and Material Evidence Governing regulations provide that an appeal consists of a timely filed notice of disagreement (NOD) in writing and, after a Statement of the Case (SOC) has been furnished, a timely filed substantive appeal. R. 200. Rating actions from which an appeal is not timely perfected become final. C. R. 1103. A final decision cannot be reopened unless new and material evidence is presented. C. § 5108. The Secretary must reopen a finally disallowed claim when new and material evidence is presented or secured with respect to that claim. Knightly v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 200 (1994). New evidence means existing evidence not previously submitted to agency decision-makers.…

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

The Veteran's IBS is related to his service-connected psychiatric disorder.

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. The Veteran had active service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War. 2. The Veteran's current gynecological conditions (claimed as endometriosis with pelvic pain and fallopian tube removal) are related to her active duty service. 3. The Veteran's intestinal condition, to include irritable bowel syndrome, is both presumptively and directly related to her active duty service.

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

The Veteran honorably served on active duty in the United States Army from October 2003 to March 2004, and from January 2005 to March 2006. For her meritorious service, the Veteran was awarded (among other decorations) the Army Commendation Medal and the Iraq Campaign Medal. This matter is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in March 2022. A transcript of this hearing is of record. In July 2022, the Board denied service connection for gynecological conditions and for an intestinal condition. The Board also remanded the issue of service connection for fibromyalgia. Subsequently, the Veteran appealed the July 2022 Board decision that denied service connection for gynecological conditions and an intestinal condition to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In April 2023, the Court granted the Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), which vacated the part of the July 2022 Board decision that denied entitlement to service connection for gynecological conditions and for an intestinal condition and remanded those issues for readjudication consistent with the motion.…

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

1. Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, his service-connected disabilities preclude him from maintaining substantially gainful employment. 2. As the Veteran has been assigned a TDIU for the entire period on appeal, the issues of entitlement to extraschedular ratings for chronic sinusitis and irritable bowel syndrome are moot.

Reasons & Bases (verbatim from decision)

The Veteran served on active duty from August 2000 to July 2002, in the United States Army. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2018 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). Later in March 2018, the Veteran filed a notice of disagreement with the rating decision. Following the issuance of a statement of the case in March 2020, the Veteran filed a substantive appeal in April 2020 and requested a Board hearing. In June 2022, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the hearing is of record. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability As evidence of unemployability was received during the appeal period of the Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his sinusitis and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), the Board finds that the issue of entitlement to a TDIU has been reasonably raised by the record. See Rice v. Shinseki, 22 Vet. App. 447 (2009). VA will grant a TDIU when the evidence shows that the Veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as the result of service-connected disabilities. See 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16.…

Findings of Fact (verbatim from decision)

Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, it is at least as likely as not that since her active service, she has suffered from gastrointestinal symptoms indicating IBS.