The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is currently rated at 0 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.,The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's skin condition is less likely than not related to his service, including herbicide exposure. The claim for service connection for a skin condition is remanded for an addendum opinion.,The VA examiner opined that the Veteran's COPD is less likely than not related to his service, including herbicide exposure. The claim for service connection for COPD is remanded for an addendum opinion.,The claims for service connection for a dental condition and eye condition are inextricably intertwined with the COPD claim and are also remanded for an addendum opinion.,The Veteran's current conditions of a dental condition and eye condition are secondary to his COPD, which is currently under review.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not provide sufficient rationale for their opinions regarding the service connection claims for skin condition, COPD, and the inextricably intertwined issues of dental condition and eye condition.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Skin Condition, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Dental condition, Eye condition
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 10, 2022
- Citation
- 22007879
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 22007879.
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 Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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