The veteran's claims for service connection were denied, with the exception of his claim for PTSD. The skin disability was not found to be related to Agent Orange exposure and thus denied. The gastrointestinal condition also did not meet the criteria for service connection. The veteran's PTSD was granted but rated at 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The VA determined that there was no evidence linking the veteran's skin conditions, including chloracne, to his military service or Agent Orange exposure. The gastrointestinal disability was not found to be related to any condition for which service connection had already been established. For PTSD, while it was granted, the severity did not warrant a higher initial rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Gastrointestinal Disability, Skin Disability (to include chloracne)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- Agent Orange / herbicides
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 19, 2006
- Citation
- 0617814
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,013 · Granted: 17% (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 0617814.
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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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