BVA Case 23-4685: Back

Alford's hearing loss was less likely than not related to his military service.

June 2023 Board Decision In the decision on appeal, the Board denied service connection for left ear hearing loss, finding that the veteran did not have a current left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes.

The Board denied service connection for a right knee disability,right ear hearing loss,and tinnitus,finding that the evidence persuasively weighed against finding that the disabilities began during active service,were shown as chronic in service,manifested to a compensable degree within a year of separation from service,caused continual symptoms since service,or were otherwise related to an in-service injury or disease.

The Board found not credible the veteran's reports that since service he had experienced continual right knee symptoms,because at separation from service the veteran denied having any swollen or painful joints, arthritis, rheumatism,bursitis,or trick or locked knee, and because he did not complain of right knee pain until November 2011,when he reported a 2-month history of right knee pain,with no previous knee injury.

The Board considered the veteran's and his wife's reports that a fall during service caused his right knee disability,but the Board found that an examination was not warranted because there was no competent evidence of a nexus to service that triggered VA's duty to assist.

Finding that the veteran had a current diagnosis of a right ear hearing loss disability and recurrent tinnitus,but relying on the February 2017 examiner's opinion that hearing loss and tinnitus less likely resulted from military service,the Board denied service connection for right ear hearing loss and tinnitus.

The Board noted that the veteran's report of continual symptoms of hearing loss and tinnitus since service was inconsistent with statements that his problems began many years after service,and the Board found his more recent accounts of continual symptoms,made in pursuing compensation,were less credible.

Alford appears to argue that the Board failed to ensure that the duty to assist was satisfied because the Board relied on inadequate examinations and failed to provide an examination assessing his right knee condition.