The Veteran's service connection claims for tinnitus, right foot plantar fasciitis, left foot plantar fasciitis, and bilateral hearing loss disability are granted. Claims for other conditions such as left foot ingrown toenail, right foot ingrown toenail, left shoulder, right shoulder, low back, right knee, left knee, sleep apnea, tachycardia, hypertension (claimed as high blood pressure), erectile dysfunction, TBI, headache, and acquired psychiatric disability are 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 conclusion 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
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 880 · 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 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
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