The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability is found to be related to his active service, and he is granted service connection for this condition. The Board also finds that the Veteran's bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities are not directly related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner provided an opinion supporting a causal relationship between the Veteran's current hearing loss disability and exposure to noise during service. For the peripheral neuropathy claims, the examiner found no evidence of diffuse peripheral neuropathy by nerve conduction velocity study in the past examination, but noted that the Veteran reported symptoms consistent with paresthesia.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities, bilateral peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 5, 2017
- Citation
- 1715261
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 1715261.
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.
- 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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