The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a heart disability associated with herbicide exposure and for a compensable evaluation for his service-connected hearing loss disability, finding no evidence of a chronic heart condition or IHD in service and noting that any current heart disability is not related to service. The hearing loss disability was also found not to warrant a compensable rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claimed heart disability (ventricular tachycardia with placement of an implantable cardioverter defibrillator) did not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection based on herbicide exposure, as it is not listed among the enumerated diseases recognized by VA. The Board also found no evidence that a preexisting chronic heart disorder was aggravated by military service. For his hearing loss disability, the Veteran's pure tone thresholds and speech recognition scores were within normal limits, with no exceptional pattern of hearing impairment.
- Claimed conditions
- heart disability, hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 9, 2020
- Citation
- 20065905
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
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