The Veteran's appeal involves multiple issues, including service connection for a psychiatric condition other than PTSD, bilateral hearing loss, heart condition, and hypertension. The Board has determined that the VA examinations provided are inadequate to address these claims.,Specifically, the examination reports do not provide sufficient rationale regarding whether the Veteran’s current conditions are related to his military service or if they were aggravated by any service-connected disabilities.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions provided in the previous VA examinations are insufficient for decision-making purposes and must be supplemented with additional analysis.
- Claimed conditions
- Psychiatric condition, other than post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), Bilateral hearing loss, Heart condition, Hypertension
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2021
- Citation
- 21023923
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 21023923.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for hypertension and has remanded the issue of an increased rating for skin condition.
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