The Board denied the veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, finding that his most recent audiometric test results corresponded to numeric designations no worse than Level I for each ear.
The deciding factor: The VA audiological evaluations did not show any significant improvement in the veteran's hearing acuity over time, and his speech discrimination scores were within normal limits.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 15, 2003
- Citation
- 0335162
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 0335162.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for headaches and remanded claims for service connection for various other conditions, including open angle glaucoma, sensorineural hearing loss, asthma, heart disease, bladder cancer, and squamous cell carcinoma.
- Partly granted
The Board dismissed the claim for service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and denied claims for right ankle calcaneal enthesopathy and left ankle calcaneal enthesopathy. The remaining claims were remanded for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board granted earlier effective dates for increased ratings and service connection, as well as awards of special monthly compensation and Dependents' Educational Assistance.
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