The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the onset and causation of the Veteran's peripheral vestibular disorder, including probable viral labyrinthitis versus paroxysmal positional vertigo. The VA examiner was asked to provide an opinion on whether the condition is related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not address the significance of the onset of symptoms in June 1998 and post-service treatment records showing a normal MRI of the brain in July 2008, which were specifically required by the Board's remand directives.
- Claimed conditions
- Peripheral Vestibular Disorder, Probable Viral Labyrinthitis, Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (PVD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2020
- Citation
- 20007718
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted separate ratings for a peripheral vestibular disorder, oculomotor disorder, and headaches associated with TBI but denied a separate rating for the TBI itself.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities, but denied an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for TBI with a psychiatric disability.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for allergic rhinitis, bilateral hearing loss, and peripheral vestibular disorder but granted a separate 10 percent evaluation for nystagmus as a manifestation of the peripheral vestibular disorder.
- Partly granted
The Board denied increased ratings for PTSD and TBI, granted a separate 10% rating for peripheral vestibular disorder secondary to in-service TBIs, and granted an earlier effective date of August 1, 2014 for the grant of service connection for photophobia associated with PTSD and TBI.
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