The Board remands the issues of entitlement to service connection for residuals of left knee injury, tinnitus, bilateral shin splints, and sinusitis/allergic rhinitis due to a need for additional development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion is not adequate as it did not specify whether the Veteran's allergic rhinitis is a disease or defect under the meaning of 38 C.F.R. § 3.303, and the opinion was based on an inaccurate premise regarding the Veteran's history.
- Claimed conditions
- Residuals of left knee injury, Tinnitus, Bilateral shin splints, Sinusitis/allergic rhinitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 25, 2024
- Citation
- 24003812
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus due to a lack of jurisdiction.
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