The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including a right foot disability, malaria, EBV, bilateral hearing loss, and an acquired psychiatric condition, were denied as the evidence did not support a finding that these conditions began during or are otherwise related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran's claims for service connection due to lack of in-service diagnosis or treatment, inconsistent statements regarding continuity of symptoms since service, and failure to meet the criteria for establishing service connection based on direct service incurrence or aggravation.
- Claimed conditions
- right foot disability, malaria, Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV), bilateral hearing loss disability, acquired psychiatric disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19166129
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19166129.
What this means for you
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus but has remanded the issue of service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability due to inadequate examination and reasoning.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him so helpless as to require the regular aid and attendance of another person, but his service-connected persistent depressive disorder alone rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted SMC at the housebound rate.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient detail in a previous VA medical opinion regarding whether malaria or scarlet fever during service contributed to the Veteran's death. The case must be returned for further evaluation.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple disabilities, including neck, back, left foot, left knee, right knee, right foot, and right shoulder disabilities. The Board found insufficient evidence to support presumptive or secondary service connection.
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