The Veteran's low back disability was not incurred in or aggravated during service and may not be presumed to have been incurred therein.,The Veteran does not have a bilateral knee disability.,The Veteran’s current bilateral hearing loss is likely due to post-military factors such as occupational noise exposure or presbycusis. The examiner did not provide an opinion regarding the etiology of his tinnitus.
The deciding factor: There was no evidence of a back disability during service and there were no symptoms of a back disability reported within one year of service separation.,The Veteran's personnel records do not suggest that he ever took part in para-jumping. There is also no evidence in the claims file suggesting that the Veteran currently has a bilateral knee disability.,The absence of in-service documentation of a bilateral hearing loss disability, and minor threshold shifts noted during entrance and separation examinations.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disability, Bilateral knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19138447
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19138447.
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 claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability alone does not prevent him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability is dismissed. The appeal for service connection for bilateral knee disabilities is denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and bilateral hip disability, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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