The Board has remanded several issues for further development and consideration, including service connection claims for various conditions such as hearing loss, tinnitus, degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, cellulitis, PTSD, and a fractured right mandible. The effective date for the grant of service connection for tinnitus remains April 3, 2013.
The deciding factor: The Board has determined that further development is needed to address several service connection claims due to incomplete or insufficient evidence in the record.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Tinnitus, Degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the lumbar spine, Recurring cellulitis, Acquired psychiatric disorder to include posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19132843
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 Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
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