The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. The decision also remanded several issues, including the claim of service connection for sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not meet the criteria for a current bilateral hearing loss disability or establish that any in-service noise exposure caused such a disability. For the other conditions, there was no medical evidence linking them to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Adjustment Disorder with PTSD, Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood, Bilateral Hearing Loss, Left Knee Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome, Linear Anterior Trunk Scar (status post ventral hernia), Painful Anterior Trunk Scar (status post ventral hernia)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19139728
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · Granted: 24% (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 19139728.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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