The Board denied service connection for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss, finding that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for direct service connection due to lack of a nexus between his current conditions and in-service noise exposure or acoustic trauma.,No medical evidence supports the Veteran's contentions that his bilateral hearing loss is related to active service. The Board found no relationship between his bilateral hearing loss and any injury experienced during active service.
The deciding factor: The Board determined that there was insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the Veteran’s current tinnitus and in-service noise exposure, as the onset of symptoms occurred years after discharge from service.,For bilateral hearing loss, the Board found no relationship with military noise exposure alone, given the Veteran's low probability for hazardous noise exposure during his MOS as a stock clerk.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20068270
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,432 · Granted: 29% (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 20068270.
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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 service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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