The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss, left shoulder dislocation status post left arthroscopic capsulorrhaphy, and left shoulder surgical scars were initially granted with noncompensable ratings. The Board found that the Veteran does not meet the criteria for a higher initial rating in any of these conditions.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's pure tone thresholds did not represent an exceptional pattern of hearing loss in either ear, thus his auditory acuity levels could only be derived from Table VI based on speech discrimination percentages. The average pure tone thresholds were below the threshold for auditory acuity level II (58 to 81), resulting in a rating of zero percent.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 0%
- Decision date
- May 2, 2016
- Citation
- 1617598
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 1617598.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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