The Board denied service connection for hearing loss, as the Veteran does not have a current disability for VA purposes. The claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder and thoracolumbar spine condition were remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The evidence of record did not show that the Veteran had a current hearing loss disability for VA purposes, and there was no sufficient evidence to establish a nexus between any claimed psychiatric or back conditions and service.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss, Psychiatric disorder, to include PTSD and a sleep disorder, Thoracolumbar spine condition (vertebral fracture at L-5)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 9, 2025
- Citation
- A25105997
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,199 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25105997.
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's hearing loss and low back strain claims are remanded for further evaluation. The hearing loss claim is denied, while the low back strain claim requires additional examination to determine its severity.
- Granted
The Veteran's entitlement to higher level of SMC at the intermediate rate is granted, effective from January 8, 2021. He was previously in need of aid and attendance due to his left knee disability since February 1, 2017, and now has additional disabilities rated at 50 percent or more.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current hearing loss disability is not related to military noise exposure and there is no evidence of a nexus between in-service noise exposure and his current condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the hearing loss claim due to incomplete records and the need for a VA examination. The Veteran's hearing loss may be related to service or secondary to his service-connected cerumen impaction.
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