The Board has dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, residuals of a head injury, and tinnitus. The appeal for substance use disorder was denied due to self-medication with alcohol during service. Service connection for a psychiatric disorder is also denied as it did not manifest within one year post-service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claims were dismissed because he withdrew his appeals for bilateral hearing loss and residuals of head injury, and the Board found that tinnitus was related to service exposure. The substance use disorder claim was denied due to self-medication with alcohol during service, and the psychiatric disorder claim was denied as there was no evidence of a psychosis within one year post-service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, residuals of head injury, tinnitus, substance use disorder (alcohol use disorder and cannabis use disorder), psychiatric disorder (claimed as depression)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19161758
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,050 · Granted: 32% (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 19161758.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- 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 service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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