The Board has remanded the claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to a lack of adequate medical opinion regarding whether the Veteran's current hearing loss is related to his in-service noise exposure. The examiner must address the conflicting IOM report and consider the Veteran's reports of hearing loss symptoms during and since service, including from an explosive device that went off near his head.
The deciding factor: The Board found the July 2020 VA addendum opinion inadequate as it did not adequately address the Veteran’s reports of hearing loss onset during and since service and his reports of worse hearing in his left ear due to exposure to gunfire and explosions. The examiner must reconcile this with the IOM report.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071773
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · 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 20071773.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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