The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for hearing loss and vision disability, but has found that new evidence is insufficient to establish service connection. The Board has also remanded the cases for additional examinations and opinions regarding the severity of hypertension, as well as the etiology of the Veteran's visual and auditory disabilities.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the submitted evidence was not sufficient to reopen the claims for hearing loss and vision disability due to lack of new and material evidence. The remand orders require further examination and opinion on the issues of service connection for hypertension, diplopia, strabismus, and tinnitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing Loss, Visual Disability (including Diplopia and Strabismus), Hypertension, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19196004
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 19196004.
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 Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- 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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an increased disability evaluation for PTSD but granted an earlier effective date for TDIU of August 6, 2012.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
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