The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an acquired psychiatric disorder (including major depressive disorder and paranoid schizophrenia) due to insufficient evidence in the record. The Veteran was not provided with a valid VA examination for his hearing loss claim, and he needs to be scheduled for another one. For his psychiatric disorder claim, a VA examination is needed to determine if it is at least as likely as not that the condition had its onset during service or is related to any in-service disease, event, or injury.
The deciding factor: The Board found insufficient evidence to support the Veteran's claims and thus ordered additional examinations and records reviews.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, major depressive disorder, paranoid schizophrenia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 1, 2018
- Citation
- 18146545
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 18146545.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for specially-adapted housing assistance and a special home adaptation grant was denied because he does not meet the criteria for either benefit based on his service-connected disabilities.
- 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 Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
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