The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for Parkinson's Disease, bilateral hearing loss, asthma, COPD, heart condition, back injury, and bipolar disorder. The VA is directed to obtain updated treatment records, SSA records, and schedule a VA examination.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran’s service treatment records are unavailable due to fire, which triggered the heightened duty to assist in developing evidence for his claims. Additionally, the Board noted that some of the issues were not about service connection at all (e.g., a clothing allowance or fee dispute).
- Claimed conditions
- Parkinson's Disease, Bilateral Hearing Loss, Asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Heart Condition, Back Injury, Bipolar Disorder, Emphysema
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19196939
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 19196939.
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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