The Board finds that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss and back injury are service-connected, with no presumption or secondary connection involved.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the veteran was exposed to acoustic trauma during his naval service and has a history of chronic low back pain since World War II. His current hearing loss is attributed to in-service noise exposure, while his back injury is linked to an incident during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Residuals of Back Injury
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 26, 2000
- Citation
- 0016802
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 0016802.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, entitlement to TDIU, and SMC based on housebound status.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
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