The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded claims for dermatitis, upper gastrointestinal disability, including GERD, sleep apnea, left shoulder, right shoulder, left knee, right knee, and left ankle disabilities due to pre-decisional failures of the duty to assist.
The deciding factor: The March 2023 VA examination did not find current hearing loss in either ear, and the evidence was against a finding of service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The claims for dermatitis, upper gastrointestinal disability, sleep apnea, shoulder, knee, and ankle disabilities required additional development due to potential TERA exposures.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, dermatitis, upper gastrointestinal disability, including gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), sleep apnea, left shoulder disability, right shoulder disability, left knee disability, right knee disability, left ankle disability, right ankle disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25032392
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,451 · Granted: 22% (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 A25032392.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
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