The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for hearing loss in left ear due to new and material evidence. The case is remanded for a VA examination to determine if the Veteran's current hearing loss is related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The examiner must provide an opinion on whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's current left ear hearing loss arose during service or is otherwise related to his military service, including in-service noise exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss in left ear
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19110019
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,164 · Granted: 31% (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 19110019.
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 claims for TDIU, DEA eligibility based on permanent and total disability status, a compensable rating for hearing loss in the left ear, and an increased rating for major depressive disorder have all been denied. The effective dates for these decisions are not applicable as they were made after the relevant look-back periods.
- Granted
The Veteran's hearing loss in his left ear is rated as noncompensable, while he is granted a 10 percent rating for his bilateral lower extremity onychomycosis.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for hearing loss of both ears due to inconsistencies in audiometric findings and need for further clarification on the nature and etiology of his hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss has been reopened, and the earlier effective date claim for right knee patellofemoral syndrome is being remanded.,The Veteran's request for an increased rating for his right knee patellofemoral syndrome is also being remanded.
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