The veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral defective hearing and chronic tinnitus, as well as increased evaluations for PTSD and bladder dysfunction, are being remanded due to the need for additional development. The case will be returned to the Board once these issues have been addressed.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be established for the veteran's current hearing loss or tinnitus because there is no evidence of such conditions during service or within one year post-service, and the VA examiner found it not at least as likely as not that the veteran's hearing loss was related to his military service. The claims are being remanded to allow for further development.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral defective hearing, chronic tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 20, 2004
- Citation
- 0425822
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 0425822.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the readjudication of the claims for service connection for bilateral defective hearing and tinnitus, as new and relevant evidence was received.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for chronic tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current diagnosis of tinnitus is related to her military service despite conflicting reports from her VA and private physicians. The decision resolves reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him so helpless as to be in need of regular aid and attendance of another person throughout the period on appeal, warranting SMC based on the need for aid and attendance.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected bilateral defective hearing was denied as he failed to report for scheduled VA examinations without providing good cause.
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