The Veteran's sensorineural hearing loss in the right ear is currently rated as noncompensable (0 percent) from April 5, 2016. The Veteran does not have a current disability of sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear for VA purposes.,There was no in-service injury, disease, or event associated with the left shoulder disorder and right shoulder disorder. Service connection for these conditions is denied.,The weight of evidence shows that there was no in-service injury, disease, or event associated with the lower back disorder. The Veteran's current low back disability is not related to service.,Service connection for traumatic brain injury (TBI) is remanded as insufficient competent medical evidence on file.
The deciding factor: The Veteran does not have a current disability of sensorineural hearing loss in the left ear for VA purposes, and there was no in-service injury, disease, or event associated with the left shoulder disorder and right shoulder disorders. The weight of the evidence shows that there was no in-service injury, disease, or event associated with the lower back disorder.,The Veteran's relatively recent lay statements do not comport with the contemporaneous histories and medical evidence of record, including the histories given for treatment purposes, and an absence of symptoms or treatment for 26 years after service separation.
- Claimed conditions
- sensorineural hearing loss in the right ear, left shoulder disorder, right shoulder disorder, lower back disorder, traumatic brain injury (TBI)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19126303
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 19126303.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for left knee strain, right knee strain, right wrist strain, and TBI. The Veteran's PTSD rating was remanded for further development.
- Dismissed
The veteran's appeal requests for service connection and increased ratings were denied due to untimeliness, as the appeals were not filed within one year of the respective rating decisions.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including a head injury, headache disorder, erectile dysfunction, left earache disorder, chronic fatigue, right shoulder disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, right foot disorder, GERD, and left shoulder disorder, as the evidence did not support current diagnoses of these conditions.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for generalized anxiety disorder and denied service connection for a lower back disorder. The claims for depression, substance abuse disorder, and a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss were dismissed.
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