The Board denied the veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for bilateral defective hearing, as the evidence did not support an increase in severity of the disability.
The deciding factor: The veteran had average puretone decibel loss and speech recognition scores that did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral defective hearing
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- May 20, 2008
- Citation
- 0816533
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Search VA.gov for the original decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 0816533.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's bilateral defective hearing was rated at 20% prior to April 27, 2010 and increased to 50% thereafter.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral defective hearing warrants a 10 percent evaluation effective from February 27, 2015.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for automobile and adaptive equipment or adaptive equipment only as defined by VA regulations.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's preexisting bilateral defective hearing did not increase in disability during service, and thus denied her claim for service connection.
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