The veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied as the evidence did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating prior to June 12, 2000. The veteran was granted separate evaluations for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss associated with chronic suppurative otitis media.
The deciding factor: Medical records prior to June 12, 2000 did not meet the criteria needed for a compensable rating for chronic suppurative otitis media.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral conductive hearing loss, chronic suppurative otitis media
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 9, 2006
- Citation
- 0603860
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 3,319 · Granted: 25% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0603860.
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 has denied service connection for chronic suppurative otitis media as there is no evidence of a current disability, and the Veteran's reported symptoms are more likely due to post-service activities.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for chronic suppurative otitis media to ensure compliance with previous remand instructions.
- Whole decision: Partly granted
The Board granted a 10 percent disability evaluation for chronic suppurative otitis media and denied an increase in the rating for tinnitus. The other claims were remanded.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's right ear disability, finding that it is etiologically linked to in-service noise exposure. The appeal was successful.
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