The Board has determined that the Veteran's diagnosed osteoarthritis of bilateral hands, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus are related to his military service, specifically his cannoneer duties in Korea where he was exposed to cold temperatures and acoustic trauma. As such, these conditions have been granted as being incurred during active duty.
The deciding factor: The Board resolved all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran regarding the etiology of his diagnosed osteoarthritis of bilateral hands, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, finding that they are related to his military service, including exposure to cold temperatures and acoustic trauma during his time as a cannoneer.
- Claimed conditions
- Osteoarthritis of bilateral hands, Bilateral hearing loss, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 19, 2010
- Citation
- 1026869
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 1026869.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for depressive disorder as secondary to hypertension and tinnitus, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an increased rating for hypertension.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but remanded the claim for degenerative disc disease with degenerative arthritis.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an increased rating for PTSD with alcohol use disorder and discectomy with lumbar discogenic pain but granted a 20% initial rating for left lower extremity radiculopathy from April 18, 2023 through January 16, 2024. The service connection was denied for bilateral hearing loss but granted for left knee Degenerative Joint Disease (DJD).
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
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