The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for hearing loss in his left ear, entitlement to an initial compensable rating for perforated right eardrum, and entitlement to a compensable rating for hearing loss in his right ear. The claim for multiple noncompensable service-connected disabilities under 38 C.F.R. § 3.324 was also denied.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the evidence did not demonstrate a nexus between the veteran's current hearing loss and service, and that there were no other diagnosed disorders of his right ear to warrant separate ratings. The noncompensable ratings for perforated right eardrum and hearing loss in both ears were also denied as they did not clearly interfere with normal employability.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss in left ear, Perforated right eardrum, Hearing loss in right ear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 16, 2002
- Citation
- 0218152
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 0218152.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for TDIU, DEA eligibility based on permanent and total disability status, a compensable rating for hearing loss in the left ear, and an increased rating for major depressive disorder have all been denied. The effective dates for these decisions are not applicable as they were made after the relevant look-back periods.
- Denied
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss has been rated as noncompensable due to having a speech recognition score of 96 and average pure tone thresholds of 33.75, which falls within Level I in the right ear.
- Denied
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss was denied a compensable rating prior to March 14, 2023.,A rating in excess of 50 percent for the Veteran's right ear hearing loss from March 14, 2023 is also denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's hearing loss in his left ear is rated as noncompensable, while he is granted a 10 percent rating for his bilateral lower extremity onychomycosis.
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