The VA has determined that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss does not warrant a compensable evaluation, as his pure tone thresholds and speech recognition scores do not meet the criteria for any higher rating under the applicable VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities.
The deciding factor: The veteran's hearing loss is currently manifested by pure tone average thresholds of 46 decibels in the left ear and 43 decibels in the right ear at 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 Hertz. Speech recognition ability is 80 percent in the left ear and 86 percent in the right ear.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- January 13, 2000
- Citation
- 0001146
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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0001146.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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