The Veteran's claims of service connection for a skin disorder and bilateral hearing loss have been reopened. The Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's skin disorder first manifested in service, and thus grants service connection for this condition. For his bilateral hearing loss, the Board found support for an in-service acoustic trauma and supports the grant of service connection.
The deciding factor: The Veteran provided credible testimony regarding the onset of his skin disorder during service and its continued presence post-service, as well as his exposure to noise during service. The VA examination report supported a diagnosis of bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, meeting one of the elements for service connection under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.
- Claimed conditions
- skin disorder, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19112070
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 19112070.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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