The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is not service-connected as there was no evidence of a current disability meeting VA criteria for hearing loss, and the examiner found it less likely than not related to service.,Service connection for hepatitis C residuals is denied because the Veteran did not meet the required medical nexus between his in-service exposure and his current condition.
The deciding factor: The December 2019 VA examination report concluded that there was no evidence establishing a nexus between the Veteran’s hearing loss and service, based on the absence of any standard threshold shift at least a year prior to separation from service and significant post-service occupation with exposure to noise.,The examiner found it less likely than not related to service due to the lack of scientific evidence supporting air gun inoculation as a mode of transmission for hepatitis C, given the prevalence of injection drug use as the principal mode of transmission since 1990.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, hepatitis C
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071654
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,726 · Granted: 19% (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 20071654.
What this means for you
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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.
- 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 bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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