The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral sensorineural hearing loss is at least as likely as not related to in-service noise exposure, and thus service connection for this condition is granted. However, there is insufficient evidence to establish a current diagnosis of recurrent tinnitus.
The deciding factor: The VA audiologist found no direct evidence to confirm or rebut the Veteran's claim that his bilateral hearing loss was caused by in-service acoustic trauma, but noted that it would only be speculation to suggest the cause of his bilateral hearing loss. The audiologist also stated that the Veteran denied having recurrent tinnitus for either ear.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, recurrent tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- October 26, 2018
- Citation
- 18145300
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 18145300.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for headaches and remanded claims for service connection for various other conditions, including open angle glaucoma, sensorineural hearing loss, asthma, heart disease, bladder cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma.
- Dismissed
The appeal was dismissed as the Board Appeal request was not timely filed.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and denied claims for right ankle calcaneal enthesopathy and left ankle calcaneal enthesopathy. The remaining claims were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
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