The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for low back disorder, bilateral hearing loss, skin disorder, and allergic rhinitis. The evidence does not support a finding that any of these conditions were incurred in or are otherwise related to his military service.,Specifically, there is no medical evidence showing an in-service onset or chronicity of the claimed disorders.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's service treatment records do not document any complaints, treatment, and/or diagnosis of a chronic lumbar spine condition prior to, during, or upon his separation from service. His hearing loss was first noted many years after his separation from service, and there is no evidence of in-service noise exposure that could have caused the current conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- low back disorder to include lumbar spine degenerative disc disease, bilateral hearing loss, skin disorder to include actinic and seborrheic keratoses, allergic rhinitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 23, 2026
- Citation
- A26025711
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 A26025711.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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