The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral tinnitus and a heart disorder as there was no evidence of these conditions during service or within one year after discharge, and no medical evidence linking them to his military service.
The deciding factor: The February 2005 VA examiner found that the veteran's tinnitus is less likely than not secondary to noise trauma and more likely secondary to his long history of heart problems. For the heart disorder, there was insufficient medical documentation in the service medical records to support a link to military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral tinnitus, Heart disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2008
- Citation
- 0811154
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,272 · Granted: 31% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0811154.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disability, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and other disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation since December 29, 2020. Effective from that date, the Veteran is granted TDIU and SMC housebound.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus, finding that his in-service exposure to hazardous noise caused his current condition.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted an earlier effective date of July 26, 2017 for the award of TDIU due to service-connected psychiatric disability and an earlier effective date of November 9, 2018 for the award of SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current diagnosis of bilateral tinnitus is related to service, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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