The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disorder is found to be related to exposure to acoustic trauma during service, and the claim for service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss disorder is etiologically related to his in-service exposure to loud noise (acoustic trauma) as a result of his duties as a construction machinery operator and member of a rifle competition team. The Veteran's credible assertions of acoustic trauma during service, combined with his current diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss, place the question of causation in equipoise.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2013
- Citation
- 1307636
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 1307636.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disorder, gout, multiple painful joints, bilateral ankle disorder, bilateral knee disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
- Granted
Service connection for benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is granted as secondary to the service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II. Other conditions are denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for additional development due to missed VA examinations.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim for service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disorder, as there is no evidence that the Veteran's hearing loss was incurred or aggravated during active service.
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