The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a low back disorder, but denied service connection for asthma. The veteran's current hearing loss is considered to be related to noise exposure during military service. For the low back disorder, the Board found that there was no clear evidence of injury in service, but accepted the veteran's account of an injury and granted service connection based on a finding of equipoise.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that the veteran had current hearing loss disability within VA regulations and accepted his claim of noise exposure during military service as credible. For the low back disorder, the Board found no clear evidence of injury in service but accepted the veteran's account of an injury and granted service connection based on a finding of equipoise.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, post-operative status of a laminectomy at L5-S1 with degenerative disc disease and osteoarthritis of the lumbar spine; compression fracture at L1
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2001
- Citation
- 0100806
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 0100806.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various musculoskeletal issues, as well as an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for rhinitis. However, the Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability, as the evidence did not support higher ratings or service connection.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding it at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's in-service noise exposure.
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