The Board denied service connection for all claimed conditions as the preponderance of evidence did not support a finding that any of these disabilities began during or are otherwise related to the Veteran's active military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded it is less likely than not that the Veteran's current low back disability, hypertension, and other claimed conditions are etiologically linked to his service. The evidence does not show a diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus, nor any relationship between these disabilities and the Veteran's military service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Tinnitus, Low back disability, Hypertension, Right foot disability, Left foot disability, Right hip disability, Left hip disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 8, 2021
- Citation
- 21062638
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 claims for service connection for diabetes mellitus type II and hypertension, to include as secondary to left orchiectomy, for further development in accordance with the PACT Act.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- 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.
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