The Board has determined that the Veteran's appeal requires remand for several issues, including right ear hearing loss and osteoarthritis of the left knee as secondary to service-connected degenerative joint disease, lumbosacral spine L5-S1. The Veteran is also required to undergo additional examinations for his right shoulder, lumbosacral spine, and dysthymic disorder.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there are insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's hearing loss and knee conditions, as well as incomplete evaluations for his shoulder, spine, and mood disorders. These issues require further examination to provide a clear opinion on their service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear hearing loss, osteoarthritis of the left knee, degenerative joint disease, right shoulder, degenerative joint disease, lumbosacral spine L5-S1, dysthymic disorder
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19105753
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,762 · Granted: 24% (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 19105753.
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.
- 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 Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of sleep apnea, left lower extremity (LLE) sciatic nerve radiculopathy, and right ear hearing loss due to untimely filing.,The Board also dismissed the appeal for service connection of left ear hearing loss as moot because it was already granted in a prior decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration of the Veteran's claims for service connection for right ear hearing loss. The Veteran does not have left ear hearing loss for VA purposes.
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