The Board has remanded the case due to lack of substantial compliance with previous directives and insufficient examination regarding chronic external otitis.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide an opinion on whether the Veteran had a diagnosis of external otitis at any time during the appeal period, which is necessary for service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic external otitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20068913
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 20068913.
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.
- Dismissed
Your claim for service connection for chronic external otitis has been granted, and the rating is noncompensable. The effective date is June 11, 2012. However, since this decision was made, your original claim of service connection for seborrheic dermatitis with a secondary theory (as it's linked to another condition) has also been granted. As a result, the current claim is moot and dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic external otitis and eczema back, neck, and chest area due to incomplete service treatment records and need for medical opinions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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