The Board has granted service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability, but denied service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder. The Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss is found to have onset due to acoustic trauma sustained in service.
The deciding factor: The VA audiologist concluded that the Veteran’s complaints of hearing loss were less likely than not related to his military service or his MOS of artillery, based on a lack of evidence in the claims file and the lack of proximity between dates of service and the date of the January 2015 evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss disability, acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- October 27, 2020
- Citation
- 20069583
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions were denied, except for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss disability which were granted. The veteran was also granted service connection for hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for an acquired psychiatric disorder to correct a duty to assist error, requiring further examination and review of private treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as it is unclear whether the Veteran's claimed conditions are due to any incident of his period of active service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including tension headaches, bilateral plantar fasciitis, and a bilateral hearing loss disability. The Board also denied an initial compensable rating for the Veteran's headache disability.
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