The Veteran's claims for service connection were submitted in December 2015, but the AOJ must attempt to locate and transfer any earlier VA treatment records from July 2013 to June 2014. The case is remanded due to incomplete evidence.
The deciding factor: Incomplete VA treatment records from the period of the Veteran's claims submission are missing or not associated with the file, necessitating a search for these records.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic epididymitis, right shoulder labral tear, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine, right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome, left hip iliopsoas tendonitis, right hip iliopsoas tendonitis, right elbow lateral epicondylitis, right ankle lateral collateral ligament sprain, tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19176279
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,011 · Granted: 24% (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 19176279.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service connected. The issues of foot disability and cardiovascular disorder are remanded for additional development.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran experienced tinnitus during his active duty service.
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