The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence of a hearing loss disability during active service or within one year of separation. The Board also found that the current schedular evaluation adequately accounts for the Veteran's symptoms.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence is against the claims as there is no objective medical evidence of a hearing loss disability during service, and the Veteran did not have characteristic manifestations sufficient to identify the disease entity in service or within one year of separation. The current schedular evaluation adequately accounts for the Veteran's symptoms.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- April 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19132551
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 bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, entitlement to TDIU, and SMC based on housebound status.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
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