The Board found that there is no evidence of a current disability for VA purposes, and thus denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral high frequency sensorineural hearing loss. The issues of hypertension (claimed as secondary to diabetes), sleep apnea, and degenerative joint disease of the knees are remanded due to inadequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The March 2014 VA DBQs did not consider lay statements from witnesses who observed the Veteran having difficulty sleeping and trouble with snoring during active duty for his sleep apnea claim. The August 1968 separation examination report showed that the Veteran complained of joint pain and had a history of a swollen left knee, which was ignored in forming an opinion on his knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral High Frequency Sensorineural Hearing Loss, Hypertension (claimed as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II), Sleep Apnea, Degenerative Joint Disease of the Bilateral Knees
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 23, 2016
- Citation
- 1606732
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 1606732.
What this means for you
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