The Board found no evidence of a current diagnosis of left ear nerve damage and denied the claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not have a current diagnosis of left ear nerve damage, which is required to establish service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear nerve damage
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 21, 2016
- Citation
- 1637064
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 1637064.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected PTSD and hearing loss disability required hospitalization at a VA Medical Center for more than 21 days, leading to the grant of a temporary total evaluation. Service connection was also granted for left ear nerve damage.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that additional development is needed before the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and left ear nerve damage can be decided. The Veteran's current hearing loss may not have been caused by in-service noise exposure, and updated VA treatment records and private medical records are requested.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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