The Board found that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss is not related to service and denied his claim.
The deciding factor: While there was evidence of a current diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss, the preponderance of the evidence was against a link between the veteran's hearing loss and his period of service. The April 2007 VA examiner opined that the veteran's current hearing loss is related to the combination of ostosclerosis and presbycusis, both of which began after the veteran's separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0901006
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,084 · Granted: 20% (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 0901006.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeals of the initial ratings for his service-connected chronic cough and bilateral hearing loss are remanded due to procedural errors in the evidentiary record.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities (bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus) do not prevent him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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