The Veteran's appeal for higher initial ratings for bilateral hearing loss and service connection for various conditions related to presumed herbicide exposure during service is remanded due to insufficient evidence or further clarification of the claims.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinion regarding asthma preexistance was based on inaccurate facts, as asthma was specifically denied at service entrance and not noted by the military physician during the June 1969 service entrance examination.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome of the left upper extremity, carpal tunnel syndrome of the right upper extremity, sciatica of the left lower extremity, sciatica of the right lower extremity
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2018
- Citation
- 18142986
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 18142986.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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