The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right wrist disorder and a bilateral knee disorder. The Veteran's claim for left ear hearing loss is remanded, as there are insufficient medical opinions regarding whether his current hearing loss is related to military noise exposure.,The Veteran's TBI claim is also remanded, with an addendum opinion needed to address the significant threshold shift in his left ear during service.
The deciding factor: There is no persuasive evidence of a current diagnosis or functional impairment for the right wrist disorder and bilateral knee disorders. The VA examiner found that the Veteran's current degenerative joint disease was not related to service, as it did not have an onset within one year of discharge.,The left ear hearing loss claim requires clarification regarding whether there was a significant threshold shift in hearing during service, which would be necessary for establishing a link between military noise exposure and current hearing loss. The VA examiner's opinion is insufficient on this point.
- Claimed conditions
- Right wrist disorder, Bilateral knee disorder, Left ear hearing loss, Traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19126690
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,828 · Granted: 32% (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 19126690.
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 connection claims for traumatic brain injury and migraine headaches due to right eye removal are granted. The claim for a compensable evaluation of xeroderma of the right eye is remanded.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's left ear hearing loss disability does not meet or approximate criteria for a compensable (10%) disability rating at any point during the appeal period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss and service connection for left ear hearing loss due to inadequate audiometric examinations. The Veteran will be scheduled for new VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his left ear hearing loss and the severity of his hearing loss.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a low back disorder. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, bilateral knee disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.
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