The Board has dismissed the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for lumbosacral strain and tinnitus. The issues of readjudication regarding service connection for headaches, vertigo, sleep apnea, and an acquired psychiatric disorder are remanded.,The Veteran is entitled to service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to in-service noise exposure. His headaches started during service and have been recurrent since then. Service connection is also warranted for dizziness (claimed as vertigo). The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including depression, is found to be related to his service-connected tinnitus and low back disabilities.,The Board has remanded the issues of entitlement to service connection for hypertension and sleep apnea due to potential aggravation by a service-connected condition.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew from appeal the claims regarding earlier effective dates for lumbosacral strain and tinnitus. The new evidence submitted since previous denials is relevant to the issues of readjudication.,Service connection is granted for bilateral hearing loss, headaches, dizziness (claimed as vertigo), and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to in-service noise exposure and service-connected conditions.,The Veteran's hypertension and sleep apnea are remanded because there may be a relationship with his service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbosacral strain with degenerative arthritis, tinnitus, headaches, vertigo, sleep apnea, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2022
- Citation
- A22020855
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 A22020855.
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 remands the claim for a direct service connection opinion and an adequate secondary service connection aggravation opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and increased ratings for left shoulder rotator cuff tear, right shoulder rotator cuff tear, hypertension, and left and right leg restless leg syndrome. The Board denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder.
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