The Veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral foot disorder is not reopened due to lack of material evidence. Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including anxiety and depression, secondary to service-connected bilateral hearing loss is granted. Service connection for hypertension is denied. The effective date for the grant of service connection for bilateral hearing loss is set at March 30, 2017.
The deciding factor: New evidence was received that did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate this claim on appeal regarding a foot condition.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, acquired psychiatric disability (including anxiety, depression NOS, and major depressive disorder), hypertension, sleep disorder (including sleep apnea)
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- August 21, 2018
- Citation
- 18128363
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 18128363.
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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