The Board denied the veteran's claim for an increased rating for left ear hearing loss prior to January 15, 1999, finding that his puretone thresholds did not meet criteria for a higher evaluation.
The deciding factor: The veteran's left ear hearing acuity was rated as Level XI (28% speech recognition) and the average puretone threshold of 103.75 decibels did not warrant an increased rating under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Ear Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- December 26, 2006
- Citation
- 0639796
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,012 · Granted: 24% (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 0639796.
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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