The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, including anxiety, is granted as service connection.,Service connection for tinnitus is granted based on noise exposure during service.,Service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine is denied due to lack of evidence linking it to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that there was a correlation between the Veteran's current anxiety disorder and his in-service psychiatric consultations, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of granting service connection.,The July 2018 VA examination confirmed tinnitus as a result of noise exposure during service. The Board resolved all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran’s claim for tinnitus.,The October 2016 VA examiner concluded that there was no evidence linking degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine to service, including subjective complaints and documented incidents.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disorder (including anxiety), Tinnitus, Degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19191291
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 19191291.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus due to a lack of jurisdiction.
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