The Board has determined that the Veteran's current low back and cervical spine conditions are not related to service, but his bilateral hearing loss is presumed due to in-service noise exposure. The Veteran also meets the criteria for a diagnosis of ischemic heart disease.,Service connection is granted for ischemic heart disease.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence linking the Veteran's current conditions to service and concluded that his bilateral hearing loss was not related to in-service noise exposure. However, given the presumption of herbicide agent exposure due to service in Vietnam, service connection for ischemic heart disease is granted.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine, Degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, Bilateral hearing loss, Ischemic heart disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- March 23, 2018
- Citation
- 1817735
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 1817735.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine, finding that there is no nexus between the current disability and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for an initial rating of 30 percent prior to July 18, 2014, and a higher than 60 percent rating thereafter for ischemic heart disease is being remanded due to incomplete evidence. The examiner needs to provide more detailed information about the severity of his service-connected condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeals of the initial ratings for his service-connected chronic cough and bilateral hearing loss are remanded due to procedural errors in the evidentiary record.
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