The Veteran's low back disability and several other conditions are denied service connection. The remaining claims for unspecified depressive disorder, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, sleep apnea, GERD, and erectile dysfunction are remanded.
The deciding factor: Service connection cannot be established as there is no evidence of a chronic condition in service or within one year after discharge, and the Veteran's current conditions do not have a link to his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Low back disability, Unspecified depressive disorder with substance use disorder reported as in full remission (also claimed as depression), Bilateral hearing loss, Tinnitus, Sleep disorder (sleep apnea), Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) (claimed as gastrointestinal condition), Erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19104079
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,456 · Granted: 23% (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 19104079.
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 service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a low back disability and an increased rating for his acquired psychiatric disorder. The Board found that there was no evidence linking the current disabilities to military service.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected low back disability alone does not prevent him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.
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