The veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. His hearing loss claim was granted, but not to a higher rating. Service connection for arthritis and PTSD was also denied. Increased ratings of 30% each were granted for his cold injury foot disabilities.
The deciding factor: Service connection could not be established as the veteran did not have arthritis that was either present in or related to his active duty service, nor is it proximately due to a service-connected condition. The criteria for increased ratings under DC 7122 were met for both feet.
- Claimed conditions
- Arthritis, Hearing Loss, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- December 3, 2003
- Citation
- 0333648
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 0333648.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) due to a verified in-service stressor, and the positive and negative medical evidence is at least in equipoise.
- Whole decision: Granted
Your claim for a higher rating and service connection for PTSD has been granted. The new evidence supports reopening your case.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for hearing loss as there is no current diagnosis of a bilateral hearing disability for VA purposes, and the Veteran did not have a hearing loss disability at any time during or recent to the filing of his claim.
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