The Veteran's currently diagnosed bilateral hearing loss was not present during active service, did not manifest within one year of discharge from service, and did not develop as a result of any incident during service. The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against his claim seeking service connection for bilateral hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's separation examination and accompanying Report of Medical History did not include any complaints related to the Veteran's hearing, and there was no significant change in hearing noted in his records during active military service. The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's present hearing loss was more likely related to post-service noise exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2014
- Citation
- 1419378
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 1419378.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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