The Veteran's bilateral ear disorder, including otitis media, cholesteatoma, and tympanic membrane scarring, is remanded for further development to obtain private treatment records and provide an addendum opinion addressing the nature and etiology of his claimed disorders.
The deciding factor: The Board found pre-decisional duty to assist errors in not obtaining all relevant private treatment records and did not employ the correct legal standard for a disorder that may have pre-existed service, or properly consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset and continuity of relevant symptomatology.
- Claimed conditions
- otitis media, cholesteatoma, tympanic membrane scarring
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 15, 2024
- Citation
- A24075270
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (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 A24075270.
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 claims seeking compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 for left foot and bladder disabilities, as well as service connection for tinnitus, are dismissed due to lack of new and relevant evidence. The claim seeking service connection for bilateral knee disabilities is readjudicated.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea but has remanded the issue of service connection for cholesteatoma due to a duty-to-assist error.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of service connection for cholesteatoma and an acquired psychiatric disorder to include PTSD due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in failing to provide VA examinations. The Veteran is entitled to a VA examination for both claims.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's TDIU claim is granted from May 25, 2010. The case is remanded for additional development regarding the compensable rating for bilateral cholesteatoma.
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