The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for left hip disability and hearing loss due to lack of substantial compliance with previous remand directives. The Veteran's left hip disability may be related to physical activity in service, but this needs further clarification from a VA medical opinion. For his hearing loss, there is insufficient evidence to establish its relationship to service noise exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found the prior examinations inadequate and requested additional opinions on the etiology of the Veteran's left hip disability and hearing loss.
- Claimed conditions
- left hip disability, hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2021
- Citation
- 21016155
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 21016155.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus. However, it was determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability of bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus for VA purposes, thus denying both claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for left and right hip disabilities due to inadequate VA medical opinions. The Veteran will need an adequate VA medical opinion to determine if his hip disabilities are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for left, right ankle disabilities, left and right hip disabilities, left and right shin splints, and left and right knee disabilities due to inadequate nexus opinions in the VA examination reports. The Veteran contends that her current disabilities are related to injuries sustained during basic training.
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