The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, low back, right and left knee disabilities, generalized anxiety disorder, other specified depressive disorder, and somatic symptom disorder to obtain additional evidence.
The deciding factor: Remand is required due to a pre-decisional duty-to-assist error in failing to attempt to obtain any outstanding service records or prepare a formal finding of unavailability regarding additional records (with notice to the Veteran).
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss disability, Tinnitus, Low back disability, to include as secondary to the service-connected pes planus with plantar fasciitis, Right knee disability, to include as secondary to the service-connected pes planus with plantar fasciitis, Left knee disability, to include as secondary to the service-connected pes planus with plantar fasciitis, Generalized anxiety disorder, Other specified depressive disorder, Somatic symptom disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2025
- Citation
- A25088225
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (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 A25088225.
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 Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral pes planus with hammer toes, hallux valgus and degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and bilateral kidney cysts, rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment. The Board granted the TDIU based on these conditions.
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