The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient examination and incomplete medical records, requiring further evaluation of the Veteran's bilateral ear aches.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not have access to the Veteran’s separation from service examination, which is necessary for an adequate opinion on the etiology of the bilateral ear aches.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral ear aches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 23, 2018
- Citation
- 18104820
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 18104820.
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 Veteran's service connection claims for various conditions, including sensitivity to cigarette smoke and related symptoms, are remanded due to the need for a VA examination to determine if these conditions are related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral ear aches are not caused by or related to his active duty service, and they are not secondary to his service-connected hearing loss and tinnitus. Therefore, the claim for service connection is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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