The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient opinions regarding the cause of the Veteran's death, specifically whether his service-connected hearing loss and tinnitus caused or contributed to his vertigo, Meniere's disease, and other balance issues.
The deciding factor: The VA needs additional medical opinion on the etiology of the Veteran’s vertigo, Meniere's disease, and other balance issues as well as their relation to his service-connected hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Vertigo, Meniere's disease, Hearing loss, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19194056
Veterans Law Judge
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 19194056.
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 hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of entitlement to service connection for vertigo and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's hearing loss is not rated higher than 10 percent.
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