The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeal for service connection of a blood disorder. The claim for reopening and granting service connection for bilateral hearing loss was granted, with the effective date set at the date of receipt of the new evidence (June 2019). Service connection for unspecified depressive disorder was also granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the blood disorder issue, and the July 1988 rating decision denying service connection for bilateral hearing loss became final. New evidence received since then related to an unestablished fact necessary to decide the claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss (worsening during service). The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss had its onset in service and worsened after discharge, thus granting service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- blood disorder, unspecified depressive disorder, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19184881
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,421 · Granted: 31% (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 19184881.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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