The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim of service connection for right ear hearing loss and finds that new evidence received since the final denial shows a current right ear hearing loss disability. However, the preponderance of the evidence is against a finding that this disability is related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's STRs did not show any hearing loss in either ear during service or within one year post-service. The VA examiner opined that the current right ear hearing loss is less likely as not due to noise exposure in service, citing the lack of a history of hearing problems prior to 2014 and the absence of evidence of hearing loss until then.
- Claimed conditions
- Right Ear Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 5, 2017
- Citation
- 1719813
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 1719813.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
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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