The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions, including hearing loss and musculoskeletal disorders, due to inadequate medical examinations.
The deciding factor: The VA examination provided is deemed inadequate as it did not explain in the rationale any findings or reasons for the conclusion that the Veteran's speech discrimination scores were not appropriate for rating purposes. Additionally, the Board finds that a VA medical examination is required under McLendon v. Nicholson for each of these disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, right ear hearing loss, left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left wrist disorder, right wrist disorder, temporomandibular disorder with bruxism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25036384
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,316 · Granted: 43% (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 A25036384.
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 Veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for onychomycosis was denied as the condition did not require treatment and covered less than 5% of his body. The Board also remanded issues regarding service connection for left ear hearing loss and entitlement to a compensable disability rating for right ear hearing loss.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection of right ear hearing loss, and the case is dismissed.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for right and left wrist disorders due to a duty to assist error in failing to provide notice of a hearing.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claims for lumbosacral strain, asthma, melasma and hydradenitis, hypertension, an acquired psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression, anxiety, and stress), left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, left knee disorder, a left foot disorder, and IBS have been granted. The remaining issues are remanded.
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