The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for hearing loss in his right ear and a compensable rating for his service-connected hearing loss in his left ear, finding that there was no evidence of in-service noise exposure or chronicity of symptoms post-service. The Board concluded that any current hearing loss is not related to service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found the Veteran's right ear hearing loss not related to service due to normal levels at separation and minimal subsequent loss, and concluded his left ear hearing loss was not caused by noise exposure during service based on his history and examination findings. The private audiologist did not provide a nexus opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss in right ear, Hearing loss in left ear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- December 10, 2009
- Citation
- 0947032
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 0947032.
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 Veteran's claims for TDIU, DEA eligibility based on permanent and total disability status, a compensable rating for hearing loss in the left ear, and an increased rating for major depressive disorder have all been denied. The effective dates for these decisions are not applicable as they were made after the relevant look-back periods.
- Denied
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss has been rated as noncompensable due to having a speech recognition score of 96 and average pure tone thresholds of 33.75, which falls within Level I in the right ear.
- Denied
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss was denied a compensable rating prior to March 14, 2023.,A rating in excess of 50 percent for the Veteran's right ear hearing loss from March 14, 2023 is also denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's hearing loss in his left ear is rated as noncompensable, while he is granted a 10 percent rating for his bilateral lower extremity onychomycosis.
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