The Board granted service connection for a back disability and denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, bilateral hand disability, neck disability, bilateral knee disability, bilateral ankle disability, and sleep apnea. The decision also remanded the issue of an initial disability rating in excess of 10 percent for right shoulder strain.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's back disability was incurred during active service due to mechanical wear and tear caused by job duties. However, there is no evidence of a current hearing loss disability meeting VA criteria, thus denying service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The other disabilities were also denied as there was insufficient evidence linking them to service.
- Claimed conditions
- back disability, bilateral hearing loss, bilateral hand disability, neck disability, bilateral knee disability, bilateral ankle disability, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 18, 2018
- Citation
- 18143350
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 18143350.
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 issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a direct service connection opinion and an adequate secondary service connection aggravation opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claim for a bilateral knee disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, including scheduling an additional VA examination.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
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