The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there is no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his military service.,The Board has remanded the issue of service connection for asthma (shortness of breath), as additional development is needed to determine if the Veteran's condition was caused by or related to his active duty.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's STRs showed no significant shift in hearing during service, and his current bilateral hearing loss was not noted until after separation from service. The VA examiner found that there was no evidence of a threshold shift and concluded that the Veteran’s hearing loss is not related to military noise exposure.,The Veteran contends that his asthma is due to an in-service sea dye marker explosion during flight, but additional records are needed to verify this incident. A VA examination will be conducted to determine if the Veteran's current asthma is related to his active duty service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, asthma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19180158
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various musculoskeletal issues, as well as an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for rhinitis. However, the Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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