The Board remands the veteran's claims for additional VA examinations to assess the current severity of her service-connected conditions.
The deciding factor: The RO attempted to fulfill the duty to assist by administering contemporaneous VA examinations, but these were cancelled due to the Veteran being unavailable. The Board finds that the Veteran should be provided an additional opportunity to attend a scheduled VA examination before the claim is decided on the merits in order to ensure that this pre-decisional error is corrected.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine degenerative arthritis with intervertebral disc syndrome, migraine headaches, tinnitus, right ear hearing loss, right hip bursitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 2, 2024
- Citation
- A24062952
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 Veteran's migraine headaches were granted a 50 percent disability rating, effective August 8, 2023, due to very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that are productive of severe economic inadaptability.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for tinnitus to correct a duty to assist error, as the Veteran's lay statements regarding onset and continuity of symptoms were not adequately considered in the previous decision.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
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