The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, and erectile dysfunction due to in-service noise exposure. The Board also requested a new opinion regarding whether his respiratory failure, pulmonary congestion, congestive heart failure, pulmonary fibrosis, hypertension, erectile dysfunction, and chronic kidney condition were related to his service or other factors.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the claims are intertwined with the Veteran's death claim and thus must be remanded. The new opinion is needed to determine if the respiratory conditions are related to service, including Ranger school training where he allegedly had river water in his lungs resulting in pneumonia.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension, chronic kidney disease, erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 11, 2018
- Citation
- 18117489
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 18117489.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
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