The Veteran's claim of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is denied as there is no evidence of a current disability related to his active military service.,The Veteran's claim of service connection for COPD and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss remains on appeal. The RO has assigned a 10 percent rating effective June 17, 2015 for the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss.,The Veteran's claim of service connection for a respiratory disability including COPD secondary to asbestos exposure is remanded as he has not been afforded a VA examination in this regard.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence showing a current psychiatric disorder related to service. The Veteran’s STRs are devoid of any complaints or treatment for such.,The Veteran's hearing loss disability does not meet the criteria for higher ratings as his average pure tone thresholds and speech recognition scores do not approximate the criteria for higher evaluations under Table VI in 38 C.F.R. § 4.85.,The Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his respiratory disability, including COPD, which is related to asbestos exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder, Respiratory disability (COPD), Chronic joint disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 14, 2018
- Citation
- 18135532
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 18135532.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for a determination on whether injuries sustained in a November 2001 incident were in the line of duty. The claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is also remanded due to its interdependence with the line of duty issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error in failing to obtain private treatment records from the Veteran's treating clinician.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date of August 13, 2018, for the award of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder is granted. The Veteran also meets the schedular criteria for entitlement to TDIU prior to June 1, 2023.
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