The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss is not considered to have contributed substantially or materially to his death from dementia and aspiration pneumonia. However, the Board finds that a remand is necessary to consider whether there was CUE in denying service connection for hearing defect.
The deciding factor: The VA medical opinion did not address potential contributory causation between bilateral hearing loss and causes of death listed on the Veteran's death certificate.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Dementia with Vascular Dementia
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19195573
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 19195573.
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 bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, entitlement to TDIU, and SMC based on housebound status.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
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