The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and peripheral neuropathy in the upper and lower extremities, but denied service connection for hypertension, GERD, a spinal disorder, and ED. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to his military noise exposure. Service connection was not established for hypertension or GERD as they are not related to diabetes mellitus. Peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity and right lower extremity were granted initial evaluations of 40 percent each.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no evidence that the Veteran's hearing loss, peripheral neuropathy, or ED was caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), disorder of thoracolumbar and/or cervical spine, peripheral neuropathy in left upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy in right upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy in left lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy in right lower extremity, erectile dysfunction (ED)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- May 4, 2015
- Citation
- 1518973
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 1518973.
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.
- 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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