The Board remands the matters of entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation, prior to January 29, 2020, and greater than 50 percent thereafter, for bilateral hearing loss; service connection for a lumbar spine disability; service connection for lumbar spine surgical scars, claimed secondary to lumbar spine disability; service connection for a bilateral eye disability; and entitlement to a total disability evaluation based upon individual unemployability (TDIU rating) due to the failure to ensure that the duty to assist was fulfilled.
The deciding factor: The remand is required because the Board failed to provide the Veteran with the qualifications of VA medical examiners in January 2021 and January 2020, as requested in a January 2022 letter to the Board.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, lumbar spine disability, lumbar spine surgical scars, bilateral eye disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2024
- Citation
- 24004732
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various musculoskeletal issues, as well as an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for rhinitis. However, the Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for right knee, right hip, and lumbar spine disabilities as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left knee disability but denied a rating in excess of 30 percent for his left knee disability prior to April 25, 2019.
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