The Board has determined that a VA examination is needed to determine the etiology of the Veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus, as well as whether these conditions are related to his active service. The Veteran will be scheduled for an examination during which he can provide a full history of his symptoms.
The deciding factor: The Board finds the existing opinions inadequate due to their failure to consider relevant medical evidence in the Veteran's service treatment records and the correlation between his in-service hazardous noise exposure and his current hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing Loss, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 18, 2018
- Citation
- 1803321
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 1803321.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for depressive disorder as secondary to hypertension and tinnitus, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an increased rating for hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but remanded the claim for degenerative disc disease with degenerative arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an increased disability evaluation for PTSD but granted an earlier effective date for TDIU of August 6, 2012.
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