The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to his military service and he is granted service connection.,There is no evidence of left foot fungus beginning during active service or being related to an in-service injury. The claim for this condition is denied.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established based on the medical opinion that bilateral hearing loss is related to noise exposure during military service, and there were no other factors suggesting a different origin.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Left foot fungus (onychomycosis), Tinnitus, Right ankle disability, Right shoulder disability, Cervical spine disability, Lumbar spine disability, Left knee instability (prior to January 7, 2013), Degenerative osteoarthritis of the left knee (prior to January 7, 2013), Left total knee replacement, Degenerative osteoarthritis of the right knee, Diabetes mellitus, type II, Peripheral neuropathy of left lower extremity, Peripheral neuropathy of right lower extremity, Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19119328
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (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 19119328.
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 Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his 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 Board denied the veteran's claims for a higher rating for PTSD and dismissed his appeals regarding increased ratings for tinnitus and a right hand disability due to lack of timely filing of Notice of Disagreement.
- Denied
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
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