Source: https://askus.unitedspinal.org/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=2845
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 00:24:45+00:00

Document:
As discussed above, statutes and regulations governing presumptive service connection for chronic diseases, provide that such conditions which manifest within the presumptive period "shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by such service, notwithstanding there is no record of evidence of such disease during the period of service." 38 U.S.C. § 1112(a) (emphasis added); see also 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a)(3), 3.309(a). The law provides for presumptive service connection for various chronic diseasesdesignated in section 3.309(a)if compensable manifestations of the chronic disease occur within one year of discharge from service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a)(3). Evidence of the existence of a chronic disease during the applicable one-year presumption period allows for an award of service-connection. See 38 U.S.C. § 1112; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307(a); 3.309(a) (classifying organic heart disease and hypertension as chronic diseases); see also Salong v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 130, 132 (1994) (doctor's diagnosis together with statement that appellant had been treated shortly after discharge, sufficient to show development of chronic disease within presumption period). Only the conditions listed in section 3.309(a) are considered chronic. 38 C.F.R. § 3.307(a). The Court has stated that hearing loss is not "a chronic disease entitled to any presumption of service connection" under section 3.307(a)(3) and section 3.309(a). Godfrey v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 352, 354 (1990).

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