The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, finding that there is no evidence showing a link between his current hearing loss and his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA audiologist opined that the Veteran’s hearing loss was less likely caused by noise exposure during service due to the long period of time between discharge from active service and the first documented complaint of hearing loss in April 2000, as well as the lack of medical records documenting any audiological care until twenty years after separation.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- November 13, 2019
- Citation
- 19185510
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19185510.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's initial claim for service-connected bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was denied, and the rating assigned prior to September 12, 2024, is noncompensable.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, thoracolumbar levoscoliosis with advanced multilevel DDD and facet arthropathy (low back disability), and cervical spine disability to include cervicalgia (neck disability) due to a lack of VA examination records and an incomplete review of service treatment records.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claims for hypertension, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, GERD, Barrett's esophagus, and arrhythmia are remanded due to pre-decisional errors in obtaining necessary medical opinions.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss is being remanded due to pre-decisional duty-to-assist errors related to his Reserve component service.
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