The Board has granted the claim for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, finding that it was incurred in service based on noise exposure during basic training and Infantry Training School.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran had noise exposure during service but also post-service occupational noise exposure. The July 2020 VA examiner opined that the current bilateral sensorineural hearing loss is less likely than not due to military noise exposure, attributing it more to presbycusis (age-related hearing loss). However, the lay testimony supports a finding of hearing loss shortly after service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2020
- Citation
- 20072715
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss due to a duty to assist error regarding an incomplete medical opinion.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss as the evidence did not support a finding of a nexus between the Veteran's current condition and his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter of entitlement to a compensable disability evaluation for service-connected bilateral sensorineural hearing loss due to insufficient evidence.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus, finding that the Veteran did not meet the criteria for service connection based on direct evidence or the chronicity presumption.
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