The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus disabilities are not related to his military service, as there is no evidence of in-service noise exposure or symptoms during service. The VA examiner found it less likely than not that these conditions were caused by military noise exposure.
The deciding factor: There was no documented hearing loss or tinnitus complaints or diagnoses during service and the Veteran's current disabilities are not related to his in-service noise exposure as there is a significant gap between discharge from active duty (March 1969) and initial documented evidence of hearing loss in 2011.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss disability, tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2015
- Citation
- 1500673
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 1500673.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as service connected. The issues of foot disability and cardiovascular disorder are remanded for additional development.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran experienced tinnitus during his active duty service.
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