The Veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss, vertigo, and sleep apnea has been granted. Service connection is established for hearing loss as it is found to be related to his period of active service. The claims for heart disorder/disease and vertigo are remanded due to insufficient evidence.
The deciding factor: The August 2015 VA examination indicated that the Veteran's current bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was less likely than not caused by or a result of military noise exposure, but it noted the acoustic trauma he experienced in service. The February 2016 VA examination could not provide an opinion due to lack of objective testing.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing Loss, Heart Disorder/Disease, Vertigo, Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- November 5, 2020
- Citation
- 20071784
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,677 · Granted: 26% (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 20071784.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
- Denied
The claims for PTSD, an acquired psychiatric disorder, memory loss/memory problems, chronic fatigue, sleep difficulties/sleep disturbances, and sleep apnea have been denied. The claim for service connection for residuals of testicular denervation and varicosectomy has been granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of entitlement to service connection for vertigo and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's hearing loss is not rated higher than 10 percent.
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