The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been reopened, but the issue of whether his current hearing loss is related to military service remains unresolved.,The Veteran's hypertension claim was also remanded due to insufficient medical opinions regarding its relationship to his service-connected diabetes mellitus and ischemic heart disease.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner in November 2014 did not provide a clear opinion on whether the Veteran's current hearing loss is related to military noise exposure, as their conclusion was based on an outdated IOM study that has been criticized for its contradictory findings.,VA examiners in May 2013 and April 2016 provided insufficient opinions regarding whether the Veteran's hypertension is aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus or ischemic heart disease.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 16, 2022
- Citation
- 22035195
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 22035195.
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 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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