The Veteran's right ear hearing loss and diabetes mellitus have been granted service connection. The Veteran's right shoulder, left shoulder, and cervical spine disabilities are denied as not related to service.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established for the Veteran’s right ear hearing loss due to noise exposure in service. Service connection was denied for his right shoulder, left shoulder, and cervical spine disabilities because there is no evidence of chronic disability or continuity of symptomatology since service.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ear hearing loss, Right shoulder disability (rotator cuff tear and arthritis), Left shoulder disability, Cervical spine disability (degenerative arthritis), Upper back disability (not separately diagnosed, considered part of cervical spine disability), Diabetes mellitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19197005
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 19197005.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for increased ratings for right and left shoulder disabilities, as the evidence did not support a higher rating under applicable criteria.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent rating for the Veteran's left knee strain, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and service connection for a right ankle disorder. Other claims were denied or remanded.
- Denied
The appeal for higher ratings and effective dates for various conditions was denied, with the exception of left and right lower extremity radiculopathy which were granted an earlier effective date.
- Granted
The Board granted a 10 percent disability rating for osteoarthritis of the right hand and service connection for a left shoulder disability.
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