The appeal of the claim for an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.,Service connection for hypertension and OSA are granted, with secondary service connection for insomnia disorder as secondary to OSA also being granted.,Service connection for rhinitis, sinusitis, cholecystectomy (gallbladder condition), nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), and a respiratory disability (including asthma and dyspnea) is granted.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his claim for an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss.,Service connection was established based on the positive medical opinions provided by VA and private physicians, which found that the conditions are related to service. Secondary service connection was also granted as the evidence supported a link between the service-connected condition (OSA) and the current disability (insomnia disorder).,The Veteran's claims for rhinitis, sinusitis, cholecystectomy, nephrolithiasis, and respiratory disability were found to be related to his military service based on medical opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), chronic pain with depression and anxiety, rhinitis, sinusitis, cholecystectomy (gallbladder condition), nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), respiratory disability (including asthma and dyspnea)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2026
- Citation
- A26019811
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 A26019811.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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