The veteran's appeal is being remanded for scheduling a personal hearing before the RO, as he requested one but has not yet been afforded.
The deciding factor: The veteran requested a personal hearing which has not yet been scheduled by the RO.
- Claimed conditions
- ruptured left eardrum
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 27, 2004
- Citation
- 0405540
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 504 · Granted: 31% (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 0405540.
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 Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, a ruptured left eardrum, and aortic stenosis and mitral insufficiency. The claim for hypertension due to herbicide exposure is remanded.,Service connection for hypertension due to herbicide exposure is remanded as there is at least an indication that the Veteran's hypertension may be associated with his in-service herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is found to be etiologically related to in-service acoustic trauma. The issues of service connection for ruptured left and right eardrums are dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeal.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for myofascial pain syndrome as secondary to multiple scars, residuals of excision basal cell carcinoma, biopsies, actinic keratosis, and melanoma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is found to meet the definition of a disability for VA purposes but the etiology of his ruptured left eardrum is unclear.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for residuals of a ruptured left eardrum was denied. The Veteran's PTSD is currently rated at 70% since September 24, 2014.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.