The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of right ear hearing loss and therefore denied service connection for this condition. The claims for left ear hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus are remanded due to conflicting opinions from VA examiners.
The deciding factor: Conflicting medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus prevent a clear determination on these issues.
- Claimed conditions
- Right-ear hearing loss, Left-ear hearing loss (claimed as bilateral hearing loss), Bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2018
- Citation
- 18150233
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 18150233.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disability, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and other disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation since December 29, 2020. Effective from that date, the Veteran is granted TDIU and SMC housebound.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus, finding that his in-service exposure to hazardous noise caused his current condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted an earlier effective date of July 26, 2017 for the award of TDIU due to service-connected psychiatric disability and an earlier effective date of November 9, 2018 for the award of SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current diagnosis of bilateral tinnitus is related to service, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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