The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, but the issues of service connection for DDD of the thoracolumbar spine and essential tremors are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.,Service connection is being granted for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss is related to his military noise exposure during service.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence was approximately balanced in favor of the Veteran, who contends that his bilateral hearing loss is due to noise exposure during service.,The VA examiner provided a negative opinion regarding the DDD of the thoracolumbar spine and essential tremors, but the Board determined this opinion was inadequate as it did not address the fact that threshold shifts were present from the Veteran's entrance to his discharge and his conceded noise exposure in service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, degenerative disc disease (DDD) of the thoracolumbar spine, essential tremors
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2024
- Citation
- 24001605
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 24001605.
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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