The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied. His hypertension claim, however, was granted as secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.,The Veteran's request for an earlier effective date for his spouse's dependency status prior to May 1, 2009, was also denied.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support a direct connection between the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and his military service. The Board found that the Veteran engaged in combat but his assertions of noise exposure were consistent with the circumstances of his service.,For hypertension, the medical evidence showed no direct link to the Veteran's active duty service or secondary to diabetes mellitus. However, as it was not rebutted by contrary evidence, the claim for secondary service connection was granted.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, hypertension
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 14, 2011
- Citation
- 1145640
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 1145640.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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