The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and granted service connection. The veteran's claims for increased ratings for various disabilities, including otitis externa, muscle injuries, and scars, have been denied.
The deciding factor: The evidence received since the October 1990 decision includes medical opinions linking the veteran's current hearing loss to combat noise exposure during active service, which raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim for service connection. The veteran's service-connected otitis externa is not manifested by any active symptoms or pathology.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, otitis externa, muscle injury residuals of a shell fragment wound (SFW) to right lumbar area with low back pain, muscle injury residuals of a SFW to the right hand, scar as a residual of a SFW to the right hand, muscle injury residuals of a SFW to the left thigh, scar as a residual of a SFW to the left thigh
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2008
- Citation
- 0815943
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 251 · Granted: 25% (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 0815943.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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