The Board has determined that the evidence is in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran's acoustic neuroma began during his active duty service, thus granting the claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The growth rate of acoustic neuromas cannot be predicted with certainty and there was no other plausible explanation for the Veteran’s asymmetric hearing loss during service than an acoustic neuroma that started developing prior to enlistment.
- Claimed conditions
- Acoustic Neuroma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185850
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,874 · Granted: 33% (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 19185850.
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 denied service connection for an acoustic neuroma but granted service connection for right ear hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claims for service connection for depressive disorder, claimed as mental condition, and acoustic neuroma, claimed as tumor in head. The claims are being remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the Veteran's peripheral vestibular condition and its relationship to his service-connected tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss. The case is also being remanded for the acquisition of updated VA treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for acoustic neuroma and tinnitus due to inadequate medical opinions, potential outstanding VA treatment records, and inextricably intertwined issues.
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