The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 and service connection for a disability manifested by right ear pain due to additional development being required.
The deciding factor: The Board found that further examination and opinion are needed to address whether the Veteran’s HIV infection was proximately caused or aggravated by an event not reasonably foreseeable, and to determine if his current right ear pain disability is related to service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- HIV infection, Right ear pain
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 2, 2021
- Citation
- 21011732
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 21011732.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right ear pain, finding that it manifested in service and persists to the present. The disability is rated at zero percent.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's right ear pain, including associated symptoms such as hearing impairment, vertigo, cerebellar gait, and tinnitus, is due to a head injury sustained during an Airborne jump in service. As a result, the claim for service connection for right ear pain is granted.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including HIV infection, bilateral hearing loss, traumatic brain injury (TBI), sight impairment, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with unspecified depressive disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for HIV infection by VAMC was denied, and the Board found that there is no evidence to support a finding of fault on VA's part in causing his HIV infection. The issue of service connection for residuals of HIV infection has been remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
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