Bilateral hearing loss and chronic/recurrent right ankle strain are granted as service-connected.,Left knee arthritis, bunion and metatarsalgia of the right foot, bronchitis, and sinusitis are granted as secondary to service-connected right knee disability.,Left foot disability is denied.,Headaches are denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and chronic/recurrent right ankle strain were found to be related to military noise exposure and use of his right knee, respectively. The left knee arthritis, bunion and metatarsalgia of the right foot, bronchitis, and sinusitis are all secondary to service-connected right knee disability.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, chronic/recurrent right ankle strain, arthritis of the left knee, bunion and metatarsalgia of the right foot, bronchitis (or comparable respiratory disability), sinusitis (or comparable sinus disability), left foot disability, headaches
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- June 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19142433
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,812 · Granted: 30% (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 19142433.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- 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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