The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss due to a lack of evidence showing a current disability.,The Board has remanded the claims for entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss, tinnitus (secondary to cluster headaches), and latent tuberculosis (due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune).
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence of a current left ear hearing loss disability as defined by VA regulations.,The Veteran's right ear hearing loss may be due to his head injury during service, but the examiner must provide an opinion on this issue. The tinnitus may also be related to his head injury and/or his service-connected cluster headaches.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, right ear hearing loss, tinnitus, latent tuberculosis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19159349
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 19159349.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for tinnitus to correct a duty to assist error, as the Veteran's lay statements regarding onset and continuity of symptoms were not adequately considered in the previous decision.
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