The Veteran's claim for service connection for a left ankle disability, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), irritable bowel syndrome with gastroesophageal reflux disease (IBS/GERD), hypertension, fatigue, and various knee and elbow disabilities has been denied as the evidence does not support the presence of these conditions during service or their current existence.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's STRs do not document any left ankle disability. The VA examiner found no current left ankle disability. There is no objective medical evidence linking his current hearing loss, tinnitus, PTSD, IBS/GERD, hypertension, fatigue, knee disabilities, and elbow disabilities to service.
- Claimed conditions
- left ankle disability, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), hypertension, fatigue, a left knee disability, a right knee disability, left elbow tingling and numbness, right elbow tingling and numbness, neck disability, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2018
- Citation
- 18142277
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 18142277.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 a direct service connection opinion and an adequate secondary service connection aggravation opinion.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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