The Board has determined that the Veteran's chronic ear infections, which are diagnosed as otitis media, were incurred during his military service and have persisted since then. As a result, the claim for service connection is granted.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the Veteran's credible statements regarding his history of symptoms and the medical evidence showing signs and symptoms of chronic infection both in-service and post-service, which outweighed the VA examiners' opinions that lacked probative value due to their reliance solely on the lack of treatment records without considering the Veteran's lay statements.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic otitis media
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 19, 2018
- Citation
- 18143400
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 18143400.
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 has determined that the Veteran's eligibility for PCAFC benefits is in dispute due to a lack of private medical records, and thus the case must be remanded to obtain these records and provide an adequate medical opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic otitis media but denied a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for chronic otitis media and chronic otitis externa due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as an adequate VA examination was not provided.
- Partly granted
The veteran's service connection for migraine was granted with an effective date of July 29, 2021. Service connection for chronic otitis media was denied. The claims for chronic sinusitis and chronic otitis externa were remanded.
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