The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed conditions, including bilateral hearing loss, gout, residuals of meningitis, acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, schizophrenia, memory loss and diminishing capacity), staph infection (to include various skin disorders), hypertension, loss of eyesight in one eye, residuals of frostbite, ingrown toenails, and loss of teeth, are not service-connected as they were not caused by or related to active service.
The deciding factor: The objective medical evidence did not show any direct link between the Veteran's claimed conditions and his military service. The Board found that there was no evidence of a chronic condition in service, nor could continuity of symptomatology be established post-service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, gout, residuals of meningitis, acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD, schizophrenia, memory loss and diminishing capacity), staph infection (to include various skin disorders), hypertension, loss of eyesight in one eye, residuals of frostbite, ingrown toenails, loss of teeth
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19134780
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,642 · Granted: 19% (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 19134780.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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