The Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disability and gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) are being remanded. The initial compensable rating claim for bilateral hearing loss is denied, and the tinnitus reopening claim remains denied.
The deciding factor: The VA examination did not provide an opinion on whether the Veteran's GERD was caused or aggravated by his service-connected back disability.
- Claimed conditions
- {"conditionName":"Bilateral Hearing Loss"}, {"conditionName":"Back Disability"}, {"conditionName":"Gastroesophageal Reflux Disorder (GERD)"}
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 12, 2014
- Citation
- 1410119
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 1410119.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development and clarification of her psychiatric, back, and hip disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for tinnitus and the issues of whether new and material evidence has been received to reopen previously denied claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and bilateral leg numbness have been withdrawn.,PTSD is currently rated at 30 percent, which is the maximum rating available under Diagnostic Code 9411. The Veteran's PTSD results in occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas due to symptoms such as depressed mood, anxiety, panic attacks (weekly or less often), chronic sleep impairment, mild memory loss, flattened affect, circumstantial speech, difficulty understanding complex commands, impaired judgment, impaired abstract thinking, disturbances of motivation and mood, and difficulty establishing effective relationships.,The Veteran's service-connected residuals of gunshot wound to the right shoulder are currently rated at 30 percent under Diagnostic Code 5303.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disability and balance issues have been denied as there is no evidence of a direct link to his period of active service, or continuity of symptomology since separation from service. The Board also found that the Veteran's balance issues are symptoms of his previously granted ankle disorders and pes planus.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss did not begin during service or within one year of separation, and thus denied his claim for service connection.
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