The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional examinations and evaluations to determine the current severity of his service-connected PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, left knee instability, and left knee scars. The Veteran does not have a service-connected condition that would allow him to combine with his right eye disability.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has multiple issues on appeal related to his service-connected conditions, but the rating for his right eye traumatic cataract is at its maximum allowed under VA regulations and there are no other service-connected disabilities present in either eye. The Veteran's nonservice-connected left eye does not meet the criteria for consideration in rating his right eye disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Right eye traumatic cataract, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Bilateral hearing loss, Left knee instability with degenerative joint disease, Left knee scars, as residuals of shrapnel wounds
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186571
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for PTSD, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finding that his PTSD is related to an in-service military sexual trauma (MST) during a period of ACDUTRA.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
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