The Board has granted service connection for right ear conductive hearing loss. The claims of service connection for left knee disability and left ear conductive hearing loss are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners did not provide adequate opinions addressing the theories of direct service connection, secondary causation, and secondary aggravation in the case of the left knee disability, and failed to address a relevant STR regarding the Veteran's left knee issues.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear conductive hearing loss, left knee patellofemoral pain syndrome with instability (left knee disability), left ear conductive hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2021
- Citation
- 21023574
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 21023574.
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 left ear conductive hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current disability is in relative equipoise with her in-service complaints and diagnoses. The appeal is therefore granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for a left knee disability but remanded the issue of service connection for left ear conductive hearing loss due to insufficient evidence.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings and service connection has been remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding his hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and TDIU are being remanded due to the need to obtain additional VA treatment records.
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