The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and PTSD due to an inadequate VA examination. The issue of whether the Appellant's character of discharge is a bar to entitlement to VA benefits is also remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations provided were found to be inadequate as they did not address certain aspects required by law for service connection claims.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Tinnitus, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2025
- Citation
- A25031326
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 service connection for PTSD, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor and finding that his PTSD is related to an in-service military sexual trauma (MST) during a period of ACDUTRA.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.