The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claims for an acquired psychiatric disorder, a right hand disorder, a low back disorder, and a right leg injury due to insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records do not contain any diagnoses or treatment for hearing loss. The weight of the competent evidence does not attribute the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss to active duty. For the other conditions, additional development is needed as there are no VA examinations addressing their etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, acquired psychiatric disorder (major depressive disorder), right hand disorder (neuralgia), low back disorder, right leg injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 30, 2022
- Citation
- 22072144
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 22072144.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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