The veteran's claims for increased ratings were denied. The RO found that the current evaluations adequately reflected the severity of his service-connected disabilities.

The deciding factor: The RO determined that the current evaluations did not warrant an increase in any of the service-connected conditions listed.

Claimed conditions

{"condition_name":"Bilateral Hearing Loss","current_status":"Manifested by average pure tone thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz of 35 decibels in the right ear and 39 decibels in the left ear. Speech recognition ability 96 percent correct in the right ear and 80 percent correct in the left ear."}, {"condition_name":"Degenerative Arthritis of the Left Knee","current_status":"Manifested by pain, crepitus and degenerative changes, with normal range of motion. Instability of the knee is not shown."}, {"condition_name":"Residuals of an Arthroscopy of the Right Knee with Degenerative Arthritis","current_status":"Manifested by inability to extend the knee beyond 10 degrees and limitation of extension to 120 degrees, crepitus, effusion, muscle atrophy, pain, a limp, and occasional giving out of the knee. There is slight instability and slight limitation of motion."}, {"condition_name":"Degenerative Disc Disease of the Cervical Spine","current_status":"Manifested by degenerative joint disease on X-ray evaluation, without significant limitation of motion or neurologic impairment."}, {"condition_name":"Lumbosacral Strain with Degenerative Disc Disease","current_status":"Manifested by IDS, without severe recurring attacks or attacks lasting four weeks over the past 12 months, limitation of backward extension and lateral bending, without limitation of forward flexion to 30 degrees or less or loss of lateral side motion and a positive Goldthwait's sign."}, {"condition_name":"Headaches","current_status":"Purely subjective manifestation of head trauma, without a diagnosis of multi-infarct dementia associated with brain trauma."}

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

March 16, 2006

Citation

0607699