The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, as there was no evidence linking the current disability to his military service.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions from VA examiners in 2005 and 2008 concluded that the veteran's current hearing loss is not related to his in-service noise exposure or ear injury. Additionally, there was a long gap between service and the first evidence of hearing loss, which further weighed against the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 9, 2009
- Citation
- 0901084
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's most recent claim was filed on May 23, 2017.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss disability as the evidence did not support that it began during active service or manifested to a compensable degree within the first post-service year, or was otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 20 percent but no higher for the Veteran's bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
- Denied
The Board denied a compensable rating for the Veteran's bilateral sensorineural hearing loss based on the results of a July 2023 VA examination.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.