The Board denied service connection for a cervical spine disability, bilateral hearing loss, and migraine headache. The cervical spine disability was not found to be related to service or due to an in-service injury. Bilateral hearing loss did not meet the VA criteria for a current disability. Migraine headaches were determined to be unrelated to service-connected thoracolumbar spine disability.,The Veteran's claims for cervical spine, bilateral hearing loss, and migraine headache were all denied as they did not meet the required standards for service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found no evidence of a current disability in any of these conditions that would allow for service connection. The Veteran’s statements regarding diagnosis and etiology are not competent due to lack of specialized medical education, training, and experience.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, bilateral hearing loss, migraine headache
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19129505
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.
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- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection for a bilateral knee disability, bilateral upper and lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, lumbar spine disability, cervical spine disability, and chronic pain syndrome due to untimely notices of disagreement.
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