The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for hearing loss, left knee disability, right shoulder disability, and left shoulder disability due to incomplete examination reports. The Veteran's right knee patellar tendonitis is also being remanded for a new VA examination.,For the increased rating claim for patellar tendonitis of the right knee, additional VA medical records are needed, as well as a new VA examination.
The deciding factor: The current evidence does not provide sufficient information to determine if the Veteran has any current disabilities that would warrant service connection. The examinations conducted do not fully comply with the requirements set forth in Correia v. McDonald (2016).
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss, Left knee disability, Right shoulder disability, Left shoulder disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19181866
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 19181866.
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 Veteran's hearing loss and low back strain claims are remanded for further evaluation. The hearing loss claim is denied, while the low back strain claim requires additional examination to determine its severity.
- Granted
The Veteran's TDIU claim for bilateral knee disabilities and his right and left knee scars have been granted. He is now rated at a combined 60% disability rating from June 1, 2018 based on bilateral factors for his bilateral knee disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current hearing loss disability is not related to military noise exposure and there is no evidence of a nexus between in-service noise exposure and his current condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's entitlement to higher level of SMC at the intermediate rate is granted, effective from January 8, 2021. He was previously in need of aid and attendance due to his left knee disability since February 1, 2017, and now has additional disabilities rated at 50 percent or more.
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