The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for right ear hearing loss and granted it, finding that new evidence supports a current diagnosis of sensorineural hearing loss and connecting this to in-service noise exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's lay statements about his hearing problems since service were credible and supported by medical history indicating hearing issues upon separation from service. The VA opinions were considered inadequate due to not considering the Veteran's lay history of hearing loss.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2018
- Citation
- 1804084
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 1804084.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for right ear sensorineural hearing loss to obtain additional medical evidence regarding its etiology, including considering the Veteran's presumed in-service toxic exposure risk activities.
- Partly granted
The Board denied service connection for right ear sensorineural hearing loss, left ear sensorineural hearing loss, and tinnitus. The claims for anxiety, depression, PTSD, and feet and toes were remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for right ear sensorineural hearing loss as there was no evidence of a current disability for VA compensation purposes.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for left and right ear sensorineural hearing loss due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors.
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