The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates and increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss have been denied. The earliest possible effective date for a grant of service connection for left ear hearing loss is February 8, 2011, as that was the first date he met the statutory criteria for a hearing loss disability. For right ear hearing loss, the Veteran did not meet the statutory criteria prior to June 29, 2009, and thus no earlier effective date can be granted. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss has been rated at Level I since February 8, 2011.
The deciding factor: The earliest possible effective date for a grant of service connection is based on the statutory criteria for hearing loss disability. The Veteran did not meet these criteria prior to September 22, 2014, when he was first shown to have left ear hearing loss that met the statutory definition.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Ear Hearing Loss, Right Ear Hearing Loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2017
- Citation
- 1744923
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 1744923.
What this means for you
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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.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a TDIU with a September 19, 2024 effective date based on his PTSD, emphysema, and COPD symptoms. His diabetes, tinnitus, and left ear hearing loss were not found to prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to March 19, 2024.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to August 31, 2020.
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