The Veteran's hepatitis C and hair loss claims are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.,The Veteran's OSA claim is remanded as the examiner failed to consider her prior sleep disturbances.,The Veteran's hypertension claim is remanded because the examiner did not provide a rationale for denying secondary service connection.,The Veteran's gastrointestinal disorder claim is remanded due to insufficient consideration of medical literature cited by the Veteran’s representative.,The Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus claims are remanded as the examination results were inconsistent and the examiner failed to address relevant medical literature.,The Veteran's dizziness claim is remanded because the examiner did not consider whether her dizziness was a symptom of her service-connected headache disability or a separate disorder.,The Veteran's cervical spine, left hand, bilateral shoulder, hip, knee, and foot disabilities claims are all remanded due to inadequate examination reports that failed to address relevant medical literature and symptoms.
The deciding factor: The Board cannot make fully-informed decisions on these issues without additional evidence or clarification from the VA examiners regarding their opinions.,The examiner did not consider the Veteran's prior sleep disturbances, which could impact her OSA claim.,The examiner failed to provide a rationale for denying secondary service connection for hypertension based on the medical literature cited by the Veteran’s representative.,The examiner did not address relevant medical literature cited by the Veteran’s representative in their gastrointestinal disorder opinion.,The examination results were inconsistent, and the examiner failed to address relevant medical literature when rendering an etiological opinion.,The examiner did not consider whether the Veteran's dizziness was a symptom of her service-connected headache disability or a separate disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- hepatitis C, hair loss, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), hypertension, gastrointestinal disorder, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, dizziness, cervical spine disability, left hand disability, bilateral shoulder disability, bilateral hip disability, bilateral knee disability, bilateral foot disability, scars
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 19, 2023
- Citation
- 23023068
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 23023068.
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 service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
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