The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral foot and hearing loss disabilities due to a lack of VA examinations. The Veteran is seeking service connection for these conditions on the basis that they were aggravated by his military service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not undergo necessary VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his claimed disabilities, which are required for proper adjudication.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral foot disability, bilateral hearing loss disability
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19186871
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 service connection for bilateral foot disability, respiratory disability (breathing difficulty), cardiac disability (irregular heartbeat), and right hip disability as there was no evidence of a current disability or a link to active service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a bilateral foot disability to obtain an addendum medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's pre-existing pes planus was aggravated by service.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions were denied, except for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss disability which were granted. The veteran was also granted service connection for hypertension.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including tension headaches, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and a bilateral hearing loss disability. The Board also denied an initial compensable rating for the Veteran's headache disability.
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