The Veteran's claims of service connection for PTSD, tinnitus, and substance abuse were denied as the evidence did not establish a link between these conditions and his military service.
The deciding factor: There was no credible supporting evidence to verify the stressor events claimed by the Veteran for PTSD. The VA audiologist found that current tinnitus had its onset after service. Substance abuse is presumed to be due to willful misconduct or abuse of alcohol/drugs, which precludes compensation under these circumstances.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 17, 2009
- Citation
- 0943634
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 0943634.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to December 27, 2019 for the grant of service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no earlier claim document in the claims file and the Veteran did not timely perfect an appeal.
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