The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension, and headaches have been dismissed as the Veteran withdrew his appeals prior to a decision.,Service connection for depression and anxiety (claimed as drug treatment) has also been denied. The Board found that the Veteran’s current mental health conditions are not related to service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his claims for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension, and headaches prior to a decision.,There is no evidence of in-service diagnosis or treatment for depression and anxiety, and the Veteran's post-service symptoms did not manifest until many years after service. The Board found that the Veteran’s current conditions are more likely due to his own willful misconduct during service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hypertension, headaches, depression and anxiety
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19146434
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19146434.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
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.
- 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.
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