The Veteran's claims for an earlier effective date for prostate cancer service connection and a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss were denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not meet eligibility criteria for the provisions allowing for an earlier effective date due to the liberalizing law regarding herbicide agent exposure, as he was not diagnosed with prostate cancer until after the effective date of the law.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim for prostate cancer service connection was denied because it was not received prior to January 30, 2017, and there were no existing disability criteria met on that date. The hearing loss claim was also denied as his bilateral hearing impairment did not meet the required rating criteria.
- Claimed conditions
- Prostate cancer, Bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2019
- Citation
- A19003277
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 A19003277.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
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