The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for bilateral hearing loss is denied.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the 10 percent rating of bilateral hearing loss is denied.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for headaches disability and hypertension are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right knee disability is remanded due to inadequate medical opinion.,Service connection for a right knee disability secondary to the service-connected left knee disability is remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a higher rating than 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss.,There are no earlier effective dates available as the earliest claim was received on February 21, 2018.,Medical opinions were inadequate and did not consider potential secondary effects of PTSD on headaches and hypertension.,The medical opinion regarding right knee disability was inconsistent and insufficient to determine if it is related to service-connected left knee disability.,Service connection for the right knee disability secondary to the service-connected left knee disability requires further examination.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, headache disability, hypertension, right knee disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2021
- Citation
- 21064993
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 21064993.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- 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.
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