The Veteran's tinnitus, right foot plantar fasciitis, left foot plantar fasciitis, and bilateral hearing loss disability are all granted service connection. The remaining issues have been denied.
The deciding factor: The February 2014 VA examiner found no significant threshold shift in the Veteran’s hearing acuity during his military career, leading to a determination that his current bilateral hearing loss disability is not related to in-service noise exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, right foot plantar fasciitis, left foot plantar fasciitis, left foot ingrown toenail disability, right foot ingrown toenail disability, bilateral hearing loss disability, left shoulder disability, right shoulder disability, low back disability, right knee disability, left knee disability, sleep apnea, tachycardia, hypertension (claimed as high blood pressure), erectile dysfunction, traumatic brain injury (TBI), headache disability, acquired psychiatric disability (claimed as anxiety with insomnia)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19103318
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 19103318.
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 granted service connection for left knee strain, right knee strain, right wrist strain, and TBI. The Veteran's PTSD rating was remanded for further development.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for tinnitus to correct a duty to assist error, as the Veteran's lay statements regarding onset and continuity of symptoms were not adequately considered in the previous decision.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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