Acid reflux (GERD) VA claims: secondary conditions and what the Board grants

How does VA rate GERD?

Since May 2024, GERD has its own code, DC 7206 in 38 CFR 4.114, rated from 0 to 80 percent by esophageal stricture: 10 percent when a documented stricture needs daily medication to control trouble swallowing, and more when it needs dilatation. Before that date, GERD was usually rated by analogy to hiatal hernia (DC 7346).

The findings have to be documented by a barium swallow, a CT scan or an upper endoscopy (a note to DC 7206). A veteran with reflux symptoms but no documented stricture is rated at 0 percent under the new criteria. Treatment records that show the daily medication and any dilatation are what the rating rests on.

Can GERD be secondary to a knee or back condition?

Yes, under 38 CFR 3.310(a), usually through the pain medication taken for it. GERD claimed secondary to a knee condition was granted for 84 of 172 veterans (48.8%), and secondary to a back condition for 73 of 190 (38.4%). Of 275 GERD grants made secondary to a joint or spine condition, 208 name an NSAID such as ibuprofen, naproxen or meloxicam.

Under 38 CFR 3.310(a), a condition caused or made worse by a service-connected disability is service connected too. For GERD, the chain usually runs through medication: the knee or back is service connected, the veteran takes anti-inflammatory pain medication for it, and the medication causes or worsens the reflux.

Granted

All GERD claims

20.0%

Knee condition

48.8%

Back condition

38.4%

Sleep apnea

37.4%

Migraine

33.3%

PTSD

27.7%

Diabetes

25.4%

Depression

25.0%

Hypertension

20.4%

Irritable bowel syndrome

14.1%

Share of decided claims granted; a remand counts as not granted. One count per veteran. Secondary claims are the ones the Board marked as secondary to that condition.

Claimed secondary to	Granted	Veterans	Share
PTSD	238	859	27.7%
Back condition	73	190	38.4%
Knee condition	84	172	48.8%
Sleep apnea	46	123	37.4%
Diabetes	29	114	25.4%
Irritable bowel syndrome	9	64	14.1%
Depression	15	60	25.0%
Migraine	20	60	33.3%
Hypertension	10	49	20.4%

Can GERD be secondary to PTSD?

Yes. PTSD is the condition GERD is most often claimed secondary to: the Board granted 238 of 859 (27.7%). An NSAID came up in only 5.5% of the GERD grants made secondary to a mental health condition.

PTSD claims are the largest group, but the share granted is lower than for knee and back claims. Without a medication to point to, the medical opinion has to explain how the mental health condition causes or worsens the reflux.

Look up your client's group

Every base, exposure, job and medal with at least 15 decided GERD claims, 82 groups in all. Only 1 clears our bar for a lead, and it fits the medication pattern: decisions that name medications and vaccinations as an exposure (9 of 23 granted).

Bases 10Exposures 32Military jobs 16Medals 24

Bar: share of this group's acid reflux (GERD) claims the Board granted. Red line: all acid reflux (GERD) claims, 20.0% granted. A bar past the line won more often than usual.

×

More often than usual: how much more often acid reflux (GERD) comes up in this group's decisions than in all Board decisions. It shows how common the condition is here, not how often it wins.

Set aside

For groups VA does not presume, veterans whose decision shows service VA already presumes for acid reflux (GERD) (for example Vietnam or Thailand for Agent Orange) are left out, because for them the presumption is the answer.

Sort byGrant shareMore often than usualClaims decided

• Fort Bragg
  22.7% granted · 5 of 22

  0.9×more often

• Fort Hood
  21.2% granted · 7 of 33

  1.3×more often

• Fort Jackson
  20.0% granted · 3 of 15

  0.7×more often

• Fort Dix, NJ
  15.8% granted · 3 of 19

  1.1×more often

• U-Tapao Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand
  13.3% granted · 2 of 15

  0.4×more often

• Fort Knox
  11.8% granted · 2 of 17

  0.9×more often

• Camp Lejeune
  10.3% granted · 34 of 329

  1.5×more often

• Fort Benning
  8.3% granted · 2 of 24

  0.9×more often

• Fort McClellan, Alabama
  7.8% granted · 4 of 51

  1.0×more often

• Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California
  6.7% granted · 2 of 30

  1.2×more often

What conditions follow from GERD?

Sleep apnea most often: 85 of 284 veterans who claimed it secondary to GERD were granted (29.9%). Barrett's esophagus (7 of 23) and peptic ulcer disease (7 of 20) came up less often.

Sleep apnea secondary to GERD is a common claim, and it was granted more often than GERD itself.

Read the decisions

Recent decisions, with the Board's reasoning as summarized by AI:

• A25110900, December 2025: GERD granted secondary to a service-connected lumbosacral strain and allergic rhinitis; a private medical opinion linked the GERD to the medication for the back.
• A25108224, December 2025: GERD granted secondary to a service-connected psychiatric disorder, on a VA opinion.
• A25108268, December 2025: GERD claimed secondary to sleep apnea and PTSD, denied; treatment records and VA exams did not show a current diagnosis.

What the data cannot tell you

GERD claims are often worded broadly ("a gastrointestinal disability, to include GERD"). The count follows the condition under DC 7206, including decisions from before that code existed. The NSAID count is a text match on each grant's AI summary and reasoning, not a field the Board fills in. Secondary counts include only claims the Board marked as secondary to a condition. These are historical outcomes, not predictions.

For representatives

• For GERD secondary to a joint or spine condition, document the medication: what was prescribed, for which condition, and for how long.
• Get a medical opinion that names the medication and explains how it causes or worsens the reflux.
• Make sure there is a current diagnosis; the denial above turned on that.
• For the rating, look for a documented stricture and the treatment it needs, under the criteria in effect since May 2024.