The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current hearing impairment is not related to his military service.,The Board also denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD and depressive disorder), concluding that there was no evidence of a diagnosis of PTSD during or in proximity to the relevant appeal period.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not support the Veteran's contention that his hearing loss is related to service, as none of the examiners opined that his hearing loss was caused by service. The Board found no causal relationship between current hearing impairment and military service.,For PTSD, the Board noted that there was no diagnosis of PTSD in the record, and the Veteran did not meet the criteria for PTSD under DSM-5. The examiner reasoned that the Veteran's symptoms were more likely attributable to a post-military stressor rather than a service-related one.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, an acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20002343
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,188 · Granted: 23% (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 20002343.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
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 bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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