The Veteran's right ear hearing loss with recurrent otitis media does not result in a compensable rating as his hearing impairment is only at level II and he has no evidence of suppuration or aural polyps associated with the otitis media. The Board finds that a compensable rating is not warranted under the applicable diagnostic codes.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's right ear hearing loss does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating as his pure tone thresholds do not exceed 20 dB in any of the tested frequencies, and he has no evidence of suppuration or aural polyps associated with his otitis media. The applicable diagnostic codes only provide a compensable rating for suppurative otitis media with aural polyps or during a period of suppuration.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Ear Hearing Loss, Recurrent Otitis Media
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 6, 2013
- Citation
- 1304286
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 1304286.
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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.
- Denied
The Veteran's right ear hearing loss disability was not incurred in service and is less likely than not caused by noise exposure during his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's claims for service connection for HTN and right ear hearing loss were granted. A separate 10% rating was granted for painful limitation of flexion in the bilateral knees, while a denial was issued for an increased rating for central serous choretinopathy and for a rating in excess of 10% for bilateral lateral instability.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's lumbar spine disability, including degenerative arthritis and IVDS, is granted as service-connected.,Service connection for right ear hearing loss, left ear hearing loss, and right knee instability are denied.
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