The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and granted an increased rating for his service-connected chronic lumbar strain.
The deciding factor: New evidence demonstrated a current disability related to active military duty, including exposure to acoustic trauma during service which may have caused or aggravated his hearing loss and degenerative joint disease. The veteran's service-connected chronic lumbar strain also warrants an increased rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Hypertension, Degenerative Joint Disease of the Left and Right Hips
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- April 9, 2001
- Citation
- 0110310
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 0110310.
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 Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
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