The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for GERD, residuals of intestinal blockage, and bilateral hearing loss. The Board found that there was no in-service event or injury to attribute these disabilities, and that the current evidence did not support a finding of direct service connection.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence showed that the Veteran's GERD and intestinal blockage were not related to his active military service, and that his bilateral hearing loss was more likely due to post-service noise exposure than to any in-service event or injury.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), Residuals of intestinal blockage, Bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20074543
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matters for additional development, including obtaining private treatment records and conducting VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
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