The Board found that the veteran's hearing loss was not incurred during active service and could not be presumed due to a disease or injury in service. The Board also noted that the passage of nearly 35 years between discharge from active duty and the medical documentation of his symptoms weighed against his claim.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinion regarding the etiology of the veteran's hearing loss was speculative, as it could not be definitively stated without resorting to mere speculation. The Board found that the passage of nearly 35 years between active duty and the veteran's complaints of hearing loss also weighed against his claim.
- Claimed conditions
- hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2008
- Citation
- 0835744
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 0835744.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus. However, it was determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability of bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus for VA purposes, thus denying both claims.
- Denied
The Veteran's tinnitus and hearing loss claims are denied as there is no current diagnosis of these conditions.,The Veteran's high cholesterol, dementia, stroke, prostate cancer, cataracts, diabetes, hypertension, CHF, and myocardial infarction claims are denied due to lack of service connection evidence or insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the disabilities and active duty service.,The Veteran was exposed to toxins during his military service but there is no evidence linking these exposures to any of the claimed conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD prevented him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.,Given the grant of TDIU based on his service-connected PTSD, the Veteran has a single service-connected disability rated as total (PTSD) and additional service-connected disabilities independently ratable at 60 percent or more.
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