The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability is not service-connected as it did not manifest during active service and there is no evidence of a chronic disease within one year of separation. The Veteran's current hearing loss is attributed to the natural progression of aging.,There is no evidence that the Veteran has a head scar or TBI related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The May 2015 VA examiner found the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss disability less likely than not related to his active service, attributing it instead to the natural progression of aging. The August 2014 private medical opinion provided no rationale and did not address the post-service normal hearing test in 1987.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss Disability, Head Scar, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease, Sleep Apnea, Major Depressive Disorder, Tension Headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19100334
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,480 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19100334.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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