The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection have been denied. The right knee, back, tinnitus, ingrown toenails, left knee disorder (claimed as left knee disorder), bilateral hearing loss (claimed as bilateral hearing loss), lung disorder (claimed as lung disorder, specifically asbestosis), nasal disorder (claimed as nasal disorder, specifically rhinitis), and headaches have been denied. The Veteran's service connection claim for a psychiatric disorder has been granted.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not meet the criteria for higher ratings based on the conditions listed or their associated disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Knee, Back, Tinnitus, Ingrown Toenails, Left Knee Disorder (claimed as left knee disorder), Bilateral Hearing Loss (claimed as bilateral hearing loss), Lung Disorder (claimed as lung disorder, specifically asbestosis), Nasal Disorder (claimed as nasal disorder, specifically rhinitis), Headaches
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19126368
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 19126368.
What this means for you
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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 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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral pes planus with hammer toes, hallux valgus and degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and bilateral kidney cysts, rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment. The Board granted the TDIU based on these conditions.
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