The Board denied the veteran's application to reopen his claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that no new and material evidence had been submitted. The only new evidence was a duplicate copy of his 1969 application for VA compensation, which suggested he had hearing loss due to in-service noise exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found the newly-submitted evidence not to be new and material because it did not provide a new factual basis on which the veteran's claim could be considered. The medical evidence of record at the time of the final RO rating decision in November 1969 did not show the presence of hearing loss disability, and no such diagnosis was provided by the newly-submitted evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- June 14, 2000
- Citation
- 0015655
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 0015655.
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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