The Veteran's hypertension claim has been withdrawn. The right ear hearing loss claim remains on appeal and is denied as the evidence does not support a compensable rating.,The chronic lumbosacral strain with left lower rib cage strain, right knee disability prior to February 4, 2016, and splenectomy claims are remanded for further development.,The left knee disability claim remains on appeal and is also remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support the assignment of a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss at any time during the period on appeal, as the Veteran's functional impairment due to his hearing loss disability is already contemplated by the current schedular rating criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Hypertension, Right Ear Hearing Loss, Chronic Lumbosacral Strain with Left Lower Rib Cage Strain, Right Knee Disability (prior to February 4, 2016), Left Knee Disability (from May 1, 2015), Splenectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19180308
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19180308.
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 claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
- Granted
The Board has restored the Veteran's 10% rating for hypertension effective December 1, 2025 and denied a rating in excess of 10%. The reduction from 10% to noncompensable was not proper.
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