The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased rating have been granted. The right hand disability, lumbar disability, bilateral hearing loss, and insomnia are all found to be related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The evidence established that the Veteran was exposed to noise during service which likely contributed to his current bilateral hearing loss disability. His in-service role as a fire protection specialist also supported a finding of nexus for his lumbar disability. The increased rating claim was granted based on the improvement in symptoms post-reduction.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss Disability, Lumbar Disability (DDD, Spondylosis, and Facet Disease), CTS (Bilateral Carpal Tunnel Syndrome)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- November 28, 2018
- Citation
- 18153603
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 18153603.
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 has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus, finding that these conditions are related to his in-service noise exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board has readjudicated the claims for service connection for PTSD, bilateral hearing loss disability, cervical spine disability, skin disability, and peripheral neuropathy of both upper extremities. The decision is mixed as some issues are granted while others are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus due to inadequate medical opinion in the original decision. The issues are being remanded for further examination and consideration of new evidence.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection for a right foot disability is denied as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease that caused the current condition.,Service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus are also denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not have these conditions during service, nor can they be presumed to have developed within one year after separation from service.,The Veteran's claims for tinnitus were denied as there is no credible evidence of its onset in service or a relationship to noise exposure.
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