The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been reopened, but the Board is unable to determine if he currently has a disability for VA purposes due to unreliable audiometry results. The Veteran needs to be scheduled for another VA examination.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of anthrax vaccination remains pending as new evidence suggests his seizure disorder may be related to the vaccine, but further review is needed.
The deciding factor: The reliability of the audiometric results from a previous VA examination prevents the Board from determining if the Veteran currently has bilateral hearing loss. The claim must be remanded for another examination.,The medical opinion provided by the VA examiner in October 2017 is based on inaccurate information and does not fully address the Veteran's current condition, necessitating further review of his case.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Seizure Disorder (including muscle spasms and nerve damage)
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19142283
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,429 · Granted: 29% (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 19142283.
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 bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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