The Board denied service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability and a right shoulder disability, and remanded several other claims related to secondary conditions.
The deciding factor: The probative evidence did not support the Veteran's claims of service connection due to lack of in-service incurrence or relationship to an in-service injury or disease. The VA examinations provided negative opinions regarding causation and aggravation.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Right shoulder bicipital tendinitis and capsulitis, Left hip strain, Right hip strain, Low back disability (degenerative arthritis of the spine), Left lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatica), Right lower extremity radiculopathy (sciatica), Fibromyalgia, Acquired psychiatric disability, Insomnia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 3, 2020
- Citation
- 20058978
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
- 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.
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