The Veteran's arthritis of the left shoulder, lumbosacral spine, and cervical spine are granted service connection based on chronicity in service with continuous symptoms since separation.,The Veteran's bilateral sensorineural hearing loss is granted service connection based on exposure to loud noise during service with continuous symptoms since separation.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran experienced 'continuous' symptoms of arthritis of the left shoulder, lumbosacral spine, and cervical spine since service separation, meeting the criteria for presumptive service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b).,The Board found that the Veteran was exposed to loud noise during service and experienced 'continuous' symptoms of bilateral hearing loss since service separation, meeting the criteria for presumptive service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b).
- Claimed conditions
- arthritis of the left shoulder, arthritis of the lumbosacral spine, arthritis of the cervical spine, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19106774
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 19106774.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial claim for service-connected bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was denied, and the rating assigned prior to September 12, 2024, is noncompensable.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for PTSD, major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, insomnia, unspecified psychosis, arthritis of the lumbar spine, degenerative disc disease, multilevel spinal stenosis, and arthritis of the cervical spine and degenerative disc disease. The diagnoses are linked to in-service physical assaults.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, thoracolumbar levoscoliosis with advanced multilevel DDD and facet arthropathy (low back disability), and cervical spine disability to include cervicalgia (neck disability) due to a lack of VA examination records and an incomplete review of service treatment records.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and dismissed all other appeals related to various joint conditions.
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