The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, an acquired psychiatric disorder, a sleep disorder, GERD, colon disorders, headache disorder, diabetes mellitus type II (DM), eye disorders, low back and neck disorders, erectile dysfunction, right and left carpal tunnel syndromes. The decision also denied reopening of the claim for hypertension.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence did not establish a nexus between the current diagnoses and service or any presumptive conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, acquired psychiatric disorder (recurrent depression and generalized anxiety disorder), sleep disorder (obstructive sleep apnea), gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), colon disorder (colorectal diverticulosis and hyperplastic polyps), headache disorder (migraine headaches), diabetes mellitus type II (DM), eye disorder (pingueculae, dry eye syndrome, central serous retinopathy, cataract), low back disorder (lumbar paravertebral myositis and degenerative osteoarthritis/spondylosis of the spine), neck disorder (cervical paravertebral myositis), erectile dysfunction (ED), right carpal tunnel syndrome, left carpal tunnel syndrome
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 28, 2020
- Citation
- 20056981
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 20056981.
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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- 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.
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