The Board has determined that the veteran's current bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, right knee disorder, and left knee disorder are not related to his military service. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that the veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus are as likely as not secondary to presbyacusis and/or civilian noise exposure following his discharge from the military service, while arthritis in both knees is more consistent with post-service occupational and recreational activities rather than military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Left Knee Disorder, Right Knee Disorder, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 3, 2006
- Citation
- 0612807
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 195 · Granted: 24% (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 0612807.
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What you can do next
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.
- 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.
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