The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to June 6, 2002 for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied.,The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to August 19, 1994 for service connection for bilateral tinnitus is granted and the effective date is set at August 19, 1994.,The Veteran's claim for a higher evaluation for his bilateral hearing loss is denied as it does not meet the criteria for an increased rating beyond 40 percent.,The Veteran's claim for a higher evaluation for his bilateral tinnitus is denied as it already meets the maximum schedular rating of 10 percent.
The deciding factor: The effective date cannot be earlier than the date of application, which was June 6, 2002, for hearing loss and August 19, 1994, for tinnitus.,The Veteran's claim to reopen his service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied in March 2000 due to lack of new evidence. The effective date is set at the date of application, June 6, 2002.,The Veteran's claim to reopen his service connection for tinnitus was denied in March 2000 and later granted on August 19, 1994, based on a prior unadjudicated claim. The effective date is set at the date of application, August 19, 1994.,The Veteran's hearing loss disability level does not meet the criteria for an increased evaluation beyond 40 percent as it was rated as Level VI in the better ear and Level IX in the poorer ear, which corresponds to a 40 percent rating under Table VII of the VA Rating Schedule.,The Veteran's tinnitus disability is already at its maximum schedular rating of 10 percent. Therefore, an increased evaluation beyond this level is not warranted.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 40%
- Decision date
- September 29, 2017
- Citation
- 1743532
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 1743532.
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim, specifically needing an addendum opinion from a VA examiner. The Veteran will be asked to provide any missing records and former employers' information.
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