The appeal is remanded for additional medical opinions on the etiology of defective hearing and low back pain.
The deciding factor: The previous examinations were found to be inadequate, and new opinions are needed to address the Veteran's claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Defective hearing, Low back pain, to include as secondary to service-connected residuals of bilateral ankle sprains
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 13, 2009
- Citation
- 0909594
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · 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 0909594.
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 Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including defective hearing and shell fragment wounds, make it impossible for him to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.
- Remanded (sent back)
The case is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining audiogram results from VA treatment records.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from obtaining or retaining substantially gainful employment. The Board finds that the Veteran is not unemployable due to his service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted a TDIU from July 28, 2010 to February 19, 2015 based on the Veteran's service-connected disabilities preventing him from securing and following substantially gainful employment.
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