The Board denied service connection for bilateral defective hearing and tinnitus, finding no evidence of such conditions in service or until many years after discharge. Service connection was also denied for an evaluation in excess of 10 percent for bilateral pes planus due to the absence of more severe impairment.,Service connection for residuals of cold injuries to the right and left foot was granted with a 30 percent rating effective from January 29, 2001. The earliest effective date for this service connection is January 29, 2001.
The deciding factor: The veteran did not present any competent medical evidence linking his current hearing loss or tinnitus to military service and the Board found no basis to establish service connection.,There was no objective evidence of a chronic condition in service or during the presumptive period, and the first reference to any ear problem was not shown until 2002. The veteran's assertions regarding exposure to acoustic trauma were accepted but without supporting medical evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral defective hearing, Bilateral pes planus, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 15, 2004
- Citation
- 0418988
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,710 · Granted: 15% (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 0418988.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral pes planus with hammer toes, hallux valgus and degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and bilateral kidney cysts, rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment. The Board granted the TDIU based on these conditions.
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