The Board remands the claims for a lumbar spine disability and a compensable rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss due to inadequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The February 2025 VA opinion is inadequate as it relies on an absence of evidence in the service treatment records, which does not serve as an absolute bar to the claim. The April 2025 VA examination report for the hearing loss disability was also found to be inadequate due to the Veteran's non-compliance with instructions during the exam.
- Claimed conditions
- Intervertebral disc syndrome with history of spinal stenosis, spinal fusion, and radiculopathy (lumbar spine disability)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 29, 2025
- Citation
- A25110722
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