The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a change in hearing during service and that the current hearing loss is not etiologically related to his active duty service.
The deciding factor: The January 2025 VA examiner concluded that the absence of hearing loss on separation examination is evidence that any hearing loss that develops after military service is not military noise-related, and that test-retest variability within plus or minus 10 decibels does not indicate a significant change in hearing.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2025
- Citation
- 25005955
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.
- Dismissed
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- Denied
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- Partly granted
The Veteran's tinnitus is granted, while fibromyalgia, internal or external hemorrhoids, bilateral hearing loss, and neuropathy are denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding it at least as likely as not related to the Veteran's in-service noise exposure.
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