The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and a disability rating in excess of 50 percent for sleep apnea with asthma, while remanding several other claims for further development.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support the presence of a current disability for VA purposes or an adequate nexus to military service for the claimed conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, sleep apnea with asthma, cervical radiculopathy of the right upper extremity, cervical radiculopathy of the left upper extremity, left shoulder disability, right elbow disability, right ankle disability, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, migraine headaches, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, heart disability, claimed as a heart murmur, type II diabetes mellitus, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, erectile dysfunction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 27, 2025
- Citation
- A25046766
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's migraine headaches were granted a 50 percent disability rating, effective August 8, 2023, due to very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks that are productive of severe economic inadaptability.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and pernicious anemia, and the Board dismissed both appeals.
- Granted
The Board granted a 50 percent rating for the Veteran's migraine headaches based on prostrating attacks occurring more than once a month and severe economic inadaptability.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for migraine headaches as proximately due to the Veteran's service-connected tinnitus.
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