The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus due to insufficient reasoning in the January 2012 VA examiner's opinion. The examiner did not provide a well-reasoned explanation regarding whether the Veteran's tinnitus is related to his active service, including noise exposure during Air National Guard service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the January 2012 VA examiner's opinion was inadequate as it merely checked a box without providing a well-reasoned rationale.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2020
- Citation
- 20003546
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 the veteran's claims for an earlier effective date, service connection for bilateral hearing loss, and service connection for insomnia.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeal for service connection for bilateral tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss, resulting in their dismissal.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and remanded the claims for bilateral tinnitus, right knee osteoarthritis, and left knee osteoarthritis due to inadequate medical evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied the claims for earlier effective dates and remanded several service connection claims.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.