The Board found that the veteran's defective hearing in both ears did not have its onset or increase in disability during service and is not related to any service-connected condition. Therefore, his claims for service connection were denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence showed no current disabilities of defective hearing in either ear, and there was no medical opinion linking the veteran's hearing loss to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Defective hearing in the left ear, Defective hearing in the right ear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 30, 2004
- Citation
- 0411330
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 292 · Granted: 21% (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 0411330.
What this means for you
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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 acquired psychiatric disorder, peripheral neuropathy of the left leg, skin disorder (X-linked ichthyosis), and respiratory disorder (bronchitis and COPD). Service connection was denied for gastrointestinal disorder, sinusitis, defective hearing in the right ear, and perforated left ear drum.
- Denied
The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for defective hearing in the left ear, as there is no competent medical evidence relating current hearing loss to service.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's defective hearing in the left ear and tinnitus are at least as likely as not related to exposure to acoustic trauma during military service, and thus grants service connection for these conditions.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for defective hearing in the right ear, finding no evidence of a current disability related to service.
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