The Board granted service connection for lumbar spine disability, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. The issues of entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU) and service connection for a lung disability were remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least evenly balanced that it does support the nexus between the Veteran's current hearing loss, tinnitus, and lumbar spine disability and his active-duty service. The Board finds that both the August 2023 VA examination/medical opinion and the May 2025 private medical opinion reflected that the examiners reviewed the Veteran's medical records and physically examined the Veteran before opining on whether the Veteran's back disability is due to his left foot disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Lumbar spine disability, Bilateral hearing loss, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 3, 2025
- Citation
- 25008803
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- 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.
- 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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