The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and determined that new evidence received since the prior denial supports a finding that the Veteran's hearing loss is at least as likely as not related to his in-service noise exposure. The decision grants service connection for this condition.
The deciding factor: The expert medical opinion provided sufficient evidence to establish a causal relationship between the Veteran's in-service noise exposure and his current bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 1, 2019
- Citation
- 19182906
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.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for headaches and remanded claims for service connection for various other conditions, including open angle glaucoma, sensorineural hearing loss, asthma, heart disease, bladder cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and denied claims for right ankle calcaneal enthesopathy and left ankle calcaneal enthesopathy. The remaining claims were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for increased ratings and service connection, as well as awards of special monthly compensation and Dependents' Educational Assistance.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for left shoulder acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis & separation condition, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, and sleep apnea with asthma.
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