The veteran's service-connected disabilities, including a right knee disability and bilateral hearing loss, are not sufficient by themselves to preclude him from securing or following substantially gainful employment consistent with his education and industrial background. Therefore, the criteria for establishing TDIU benefits are not met.
The deciding factor: The combined evaluation of the veteran's service-connected disabilities (60% in May 2004) is less than the minimum schedular criteria required for a TDIU (at least one disability rated at 40% or more, and sufficient additional disability to bring the combined rating to 70%).
- Claimed conditions
- Right knee patellectomy, Bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 80%
- Decision date
- April 21, 2006
- Citation
- 0611624
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 0611624.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
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