The Veteran's gastrointestinal, respiratory, psychiatric, hearing loss and tinnitus, lumbar spine, shoulder, hand, hip, knee, ankle, and foot disabilities are being remanded for further evaluation due to the need for additional medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The Board found that an additional VA examination and medical opinion were necessary to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's claimed conditions, particularly given the complexity of his service connection claims related to Camp Lejeune exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- irritable bowel syndrome, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, sinusitis, obstructive sleep apnea, acquired psychiatric disability (depression, anxiety), bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, lumbar spine disability, bilateral shoulder disabilities, bilateral hand disabilities, bilateral hip disabilities, bilateral knee disabilities, bilateral ankle disabilities, bilateral foot disabilities
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20070180
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 20070180.
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
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
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