The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability, left foot disability, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. Service connection was granted for tinnitus.,Service connection was not established for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability, left foot disability, bilateral hearing loss, or deviated nasal septum.
The deciding factor: The Board found no evidence of a chronic lumbar spine disability during service and insufficient post-service medical evidence to establish a nexus between current back pain and service. The Veteran did not have a current diagnosis for his left foot disability and the in-service boot issue was not credible.,Service connection was denied as there is no evidence of a pre-existing left foot disability, and no competent evidence linking any current left foot condition to service. There were no complaints or treatment records indicating a left foot disability during service.,The Board determined that the Veteran did not have a hearing loss disability for VA purposes due to his average decibel loss being below 20 dB in both ears and speech recognition scores of 100% bilaterally, which is not considered a disability. The Veteran denied having hearing loss as recently as December 2014.,The Board found no evidence of tinnitus during service or at separation, and the Veteran's current reports were insufficient to establish a nexus between his current tinnitus and service. Service connection was denied.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, deviated nasal septum, left foot disability, lumbar spine disability, tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 12, 2019
- Citation
- 19192543
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,030 · Granted: 17% (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 19192543.
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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 service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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