The Veteran's appeal is denied for service connection for a chronic headache disability, hearing loss, and dermatitis. The Veteran's tinnitus, left knee strain, and foot disability are remanded for further review.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s headaches were found to be symptoms of his service-connected sinusitis, not a separate disability. His hearing loss is rated as noncompensable under the old criteria. His dermatitis was rated as noncompensable prior to September 25, 2017, and denied for an initial compensable rating.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic sinusitis, hearing loss, dermatitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19177962
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,977 · Granted: 27% (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 19177962.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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.
- Granted
The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus. However, it was determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability of bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus for VA purposes, thus denying both claims.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and chronic fatigue syndrome as there is no evidence of a current disability in the record.
- Granted
The Board has granted an effective date of June 8, 2022 for the award of service connection for a skin disability (dermatitis). This decision is based on the receipt of an intent to file dated June 8, 2022.
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