The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted service connection, but his Tietze’s syndrome and left knee disability are denied. The case is remanded for further development regarding the left knee disability.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no current diagnosis of Tietze’s syndrome or functional impairment associated with it.
- Claimed conditions
- {"conditionName":"bilateral hearing loss"}, {"conditionName":"Tietze’s syndrome"}, {"conditionName":"left knee disability"}, {"conditionName":"bilateral ankle disability"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19128148
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 631 · Granted: 21% (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 19128148.
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 of kidney cancer service connection was dismissed due to withdrawal. Bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were found to be incurred as a result of service.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for service connection on the issues of left wrist, hand, knee, ankle, and foot disabilities have been dismissed as he withdrew these claims in November 2015. The right hand disability (diagnosed as degenerative joint disease) has been granted service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss is linked to noise exposure during active service, while left ear hearing loss is not established. The Veteran's PTSD causes occupational and social impairment due to mild or transient symptoms which decrease work efficiency and ability to perform occupational tasks only during periods of significant stress.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome was found to be caused by his service-connected lumbar spine disability, and the Board granted service connection for this condition. The service-connection claim for a left hip disability is being remanded due to incomplete records.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.