The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a chronic acquired bilateral knee disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and acne. The Board found that a chronic acquired bilateral knee disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by active service, nor is one proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by service-connected residuals of a back injury. Bilateral hearing loss was not shown in active service, nor is it presumed for organic disease of the nervous system (sensorineural hearing loss). The Board also found that preexisting acne did not permanently worsen during active service.
The deciding factor: The veteran's claimed conditions were not incurred or aggravated by active service and are not considered to be related to a service-connected disability. Preexisting acne was not shown to have been aggravated by active service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acne, Bilateral Hearing Loss, Chronic Acquired Bilateral Knee Disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 28, 2004
- Citation
- 0411204
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 999 · 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 0411204.
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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.
- 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 Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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