The Board remands the claims for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, service connection for a lumbar spine disorder, and service connection for a right shoulder disorder due to insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: Remand is required as there has not been substantial compliance with previous Board's remand directives regarding the issues of entitlement to an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss as well as entitlement to service connection for a lumbar spine disorder and right shoulder disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Lumbar spine disorder, Right shoulder disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2025
- Citation
- 25008178
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 the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
- 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.
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