The Board remands the claims for service connection for tinnitus, hypertension, low back disability, bilateral pes planus, and bilateral shin splints to correct duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is required due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not obtaining relevant medical records or an adequate opinion regarding each of the claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Tinnitus, Hypertension, Thoracolumbar degenerative arthritis with levoconvex scoliosis (low back disability), Bilateral pes planus, Bilateral shin splints
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 24, 2025
- Citation
- A25026843
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 earlier effective dates of November 5, 2021, for the grants of service connection and eligibility for DEA benefits.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- 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.
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