The Veteran's right knee and low back disabilities are being remanded as the VA examiners did not adequately address whether they were caused or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability.,The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is being remanded to determine if he has a current hearing loss disability, and its likely etiology.,The Veteran's tinnitus is being remanded to determine its likely etiology, including whether it was incurred in service.,The Veteran's psychiatric disabilities are being remanded as the VA examiners did not adequately address his request for treatment during service or any head injury therein.,The Veteran's TBI and migraine headaches are being remanded to determine their likely etiology.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners failed to provide adequate opinions regarding whether the Veteran's right knee and low back disabilities were caused or aggravated by his service-connected left knee disability, as required by law.,The VA examiner did not adequately address whether the Veteran has a current hearing loss disability and its likely etiology.,The VA examiner did not adequately address whether the Veteran's tinnitus was incurred in service or related to any other condition.,The VA examiners did not provide adequate opinions regarding the Veteran's request for treatment during service or any head injury therein, as required by law.,The VA examiner did not provide an opinion on the likely etiology of the Veteran's TBI and migraine headaches.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Low Back Disability, Migraine Headaches, Right Knee Disability, Tinnitus, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Variously Diagnosed Psychiatric Disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19162374
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,699 · 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 19162374.
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 Veteran's service-connected knee disabilities are rated at 10% each, and the Board finds that higher ratings are not warranted based on the evidence of record.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral knee disabilities are not related to his active service, and thus denied both claims for service connection.
- 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.
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