The Board dismissed the claims for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and a lower back disability due to improper concurrent elections of review options. The claims for gallbladder disorder, gastral hernia, and right upper extremity carpal tunnel were denied as there was no evidence of current disabilities.
The deciding factor: The decision was based on the procedural defect of an improper concurrent election of multiple review options, which warrants dismissal of the claims under 38 U.S.C. § 5104C(a)(2)(A) and 38 C.F.R. § 3.2500(b).
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, Lower back disability, Gallbladder disorder, Gastral hernia, Right upper extremity carpal tunnel
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 21, 2025
- Citation
- A25036144
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's most recent claim was filed on May 23, 2017.
- Partly granted
The Board granted the petitions to readjudicate claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an acquired psychiatric disability, while denying service connection for lower back, kidney, diabetes mellitus type II, hypertension, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, and sleep apnea.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss disability as the evidence did not support that it began during active service or manifested to a compensable degree within the first post-service year, or was otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.
- Granted
The Board granted a disability rating of 20 percent but no higher for the Veteran's bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
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