Citation Nr: 18160941 Decision Date: 12/28/18 Archive Date: 12/28/18 DOCKET NO. 13-02 785 DATE: December 28, 2018 ORDER Service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) with Barrett’s esophagitis as secondary to service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board concludes that service connection for GERD with Barrett’s esophagitis is warranted. A January 2010 statement from a VA clinical social worker and a VA clinical nurse specialist noted that digestive problems, as well as other medical conditions, were symptoms commonly associated with PTSD. It was noted that, “[w]hile certainty of causation cannot be determined, it would appear by ‘circumstantial evidence’ that GERD could have been in response to the stressor causing [his] PTSD, or stressors associated with [his] military experiences.” A May 2017 VA opinion provider stated that it is well established in general that any mental stress is likely to have an effect on the gastrointestinal system (which directly contradicts the April 2011 VA examiner’s statement that there is no association of a mental condition with GERD in the one medical source she reviewed); the May 2017 VA opinion provider ultimately opined that the Veteran’s GERD was at least as likely as not aggravated beyond its natural progression by his service-connected PTSD. Accordingly, the Board finds that the evidence is in relative equipoise and that service connection for GERD, as secondary to the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD, is warranted. CONCLUSION OF LAW Service connection for GERD as secondary to the Veteran’s service-connected PTSD is warranted. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The appellant is a Veteran who had one year and 17 days of active duty service during the period from October 1968 to September 1974, with service in Vietnam and Korea. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2011 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In February 2017, this matter was remanded for additional development by a Veterans Law Judge other than the undersigned; the case is now before the undersigned. [CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE] For the reasons explained above, service connection for GERD with Barrett’s esophagitis is granted. VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD T. Matta, Counsel