The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss as there was no evidence of a current disability at any time during or approximate to the pendency of the claim. The claims for service connection for unspecified traumatic stressor related disorder, bipolar I disorder, alcohol use disorder, and cannabis use disorder were remanded due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: The Board found that there was no evidence of a current disability for bilateral hearing loss as required under 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. For the other claims, multiple pre-decisional duty to assist errors were identified and necessitated remand.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Unspecified traumatic stressor related disorder, Bipolar I disorder, Alcohol use disorder, Cannabis use disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25057170
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 matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
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