The Veteran's claim for bilateral hearing loss is denied as he does not have a disability for VA purposes. The Veteran's anxiety disorder is granted service connection, but the effective date of his award cannot be prior to July 22, 2013. Other claims are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not meet the criteria for hearing loss for VA compensation purposes and there was no in-service stressor related to PTSD that would allow service connection based on fear of hostile military activity.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Anxiety Disorder (Psychiatric)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- October 1, 2018
- Citation
- 18139891
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 18139891.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for asbestosis, bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), rhinitis, sinusitis, and asthma. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was also denied a compensable rating.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, entitlement to TDIU, and SMC based on housebound status.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
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