The Veteran's right ear hearing loss claim is denied as she does not have a current disability.,The Veteran’s breast cancer with lumpectomy, including as due to exposure to hazardous materials, and her psychiatric disorder including PTSD (due to military sexual trauma and/or as secondary to breast cancer) claims are remanded for further development.,The Veteran's GERD claim is remanded in conjunction with the breast cancer claim.,The Veteran’s left knee, right knee, left shoulder, right shoulder, cervical spine, thoracolumbar spine, left upper extremity condition (secondary to cervical spine condition), and right upper extremity condition (secondary to cervical spine condition) claims are remanded for further development.,The Veteran's left lower extremity and right lower extremity conditions are also remanded in conjunction with the breast cancer claim.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence shows that the Veteran does not have a current hearing loss disability in her right ear, as her pure tone thresholds do not meet the criteria for a disability under VA regulations.,VA is required to obtain an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's breast cancer with lumpectomy was caused by exposure to hazardous chemicals while stationed at Andersen AFB in Guam. The claim for PTSD and GERD are also remanded due to their connection to her breast cancer.,The Veteran’s GERD claim is deferred until her breast cancer claim is resolved, as it is inextricably intertwined with the breast cancer claim.,Further development is needed for all of the remaining claims, including left knee, right knee, left shoulder, right shoulder, cervical spine, thoracolumbar spine, and upper/lower extremity conditions due to her breast cancer treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear hearing loss, breast cancer with lumpectomy, psychiatric disorder including PTSD (due to military sexual trauma and/or as secondary to breast cancer), GERD, left knee condition, right knee condition, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, cervical spine condition, thoracolumbar spine condition, left upper extremity condition (secondary to cervical spine condition), right upper extremity condition (secondary to cervical spine condition), left lower extremity condition (secondary to thoracolumbar spine condition), right lower extremity condition (secondary to thoracolumbar spine condition)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19102619
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19102619.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for onychomycosis was denied as the condition did not require treatment and covered less than 5% of his body. The Board also remanded issues regarding service connection for left ear hearing loss and entitlement to a compensable disability rating for right ear hearing loss.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection of right ear hearing loss, and the case is dismissed.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed due to their death during the pendency of the appeal.
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