The Board has determined that additional development is needed before the claims for service connection for right and left knee disabilities, as well as bilateral hearing loss disability can be decided. The Veteran will need to undergo a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his knee and hearing loss conditions.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided in the prior VA examinations are inadequate to decide the claims due to their lack of consideration of the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset of his knee disabilities during service, as well as the absence of an explanation for why any pre-existing left knee disability was not aggravated by active service.
- Claimed conditions
- right knee disability, left knee arthritis, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 12, 2018
- Citation
- 1822167
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 1822167.
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 Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip 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 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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