The Board denied a higher initial evaluation for the veteran's right foot disability and left ear hearing loss, finding that the evidence did not support ratings greater than 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence showed no more than moderate impairment in sensation of the right toes due to the service-connected neuroma surgery, which was rated under Diagnostic Code 5284. The veteran's left ear hearing loss met the criteria for a Level I rating based on puretone threshold averages and speech recognition ability.
- Claimed conditions
- Right foot disability, Left ear hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- February 19, 2004
- Citation
- 0404756
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 244 · Granted: 30% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 0404756.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran's left ear hearing loss disability does not meet or approximate criteria for a compensable (10%) disability rating at any point during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Veteran's right and left foot disabilities are currently rated at 10 percent each, but the Board found that they do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating under any applicable diagnostic codes.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss and service connection for left ear hearing loss due to inadequate audiometric examinations. The Veteran will be scheduled for new VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his left ear hearing loss and the severity of his hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's liver disability has not resulted in any compensable symptoms, as he had a previous history of liver disease but is currently asymptomatic.,The Veteran's left ear hearing loss has been rated at noncompensable level due to the absence of more than Level I hearing acuity.
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