The Board has determined that the veteran does not have left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes and therefore cannot be granted service connection. For right eye retinal detachment, a rating in excess of 20 percent is denied as there is no evidence meeting the criteria for a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The most recent clinical evaluation did not show sufficient severity of left ear hearing loss to constitute a disability under VA regulations and the veteran's claim for service connection was therefore denied. For right eye retinal detachment, the current visual acuity and field vision do not meet the criteria for a higher rating.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Ear Hearing Loss, Right Eye Retinal Detachment
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- May 1, 2006
- Citation
- 0612458
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,374 · Granted: 19% (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 0612458.
What this means for you
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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 claims of service connection for right ear hearing loss and a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence to support these claims based on in-service noise exposure or other theories.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU with a September 19, 2024 effective date based on his PTSD, emphysema, and COPD symptoms. His diabetes, tinnitus, and left ear hearing loss were not found to prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to March 19, 2024.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to August 31, 2020.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased evaluations have been remanded due to the need for further evaluation. The effective dates for the grants of service connection are not being granted earlier than November 25, 2019.
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