The Board has reopened the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, acquired psychiatric disability to include PTSD, bilateral ankle disability, bilateral knee disability, and gastroenteritis. The new evidence received since the final denial is considered in conjunction with previous evidence of record and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating these claims.
The deciding factor: The additional medical opinion provided since the August 2009 rating decision supports the reopening of the Veteran's claim for service connection for acquired psychiatric disability to include PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, acquired psychiatric disability (including PTSD), bilateral ankle disability, bilateral knee disability, gastroenteritis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19179186
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,726 · Granted: 19% (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 19179186.
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.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral shoulder disability and increased ratings for her bilateral knee disabilities, finding no evidence of in-service injury or disease related to these conditions.
- 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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