The Board has granted service connection for left ear hearing loss due to aggravation during active duty. Service connection was not established for the claimed numbness of arms and twitching of right shoulder, as there were no objective indications of a chronic disability resulting from an undiagnosed illness.
The deciding factor: The veteran's pre-existing left ear hearing loss worsened during service but did not meet the criteria for presumptive service connection due to exposure in the Persian Gulf War. The numbness and twitching claimed by the veteran were not shown to be related to a known clinical diagnosis or attributable to any other cause.
- Claimed conditions
- Left ear hearing loss, Numbness of arms and twitching of right shoulder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2003
- Citation
- 0307943
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 0307943.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent rating for the Veteran's left knee strain, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and service connection for a right ankle disorder. Other claims were denied or remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board denied an increased rating for PTSD and remanded the issues of a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss and entitlement to TDIU.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased disability rating for bilateral combined cataracts and left ear hearing loss.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of April 5, 2018, for the award of service connection for PTSD and denied earlier effective dates for erectile dysfunction, left ear hearing loss, migraines, and other conditions.
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