The Veteran has current bilateral hearing loss in his left ear, but not in his right ear. The Board finds that the evidence does not support a finding of service connection for hearing loss in either ear.,There is no evidence showing tinnitus was present within one year after separation from active duty service. The VA examiner found it unlikely that the Veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his military noise exposure.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding of in-service incurrence or aggravation for either bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, Degenerative Disk Disease of the Lumbar Spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 18, 2017
- Citation
- 1739944
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 1739944.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
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