The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and low back disability. The Veteran's current disabilities are not shown to have begun during active service or be otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.,Service connection was also denied for a right leg disability as secondary to the low back disability.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of evidence does not support finding that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and low back disabilities began during service or are otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease. The Veteran did not report any symptoms within a year after separation from active duty and his treatment records do not show any such conditions until decades later.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, Low Back Disability, Right Leg Disability (Secondary to Low Back)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19193033
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 19193033.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, entitlement to TDIU, and SMC based on housebound status.
- 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.
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