The Veteran's claim to reopen service connection for hearing loss of the right ear is granted. The case is remanded for a new VA examination to determine if his hearing loss in the right ear had its onset in service or is otherwise related to service, including in-service noise exposure.
The deciding factor: The evidence received since the last final denial indicates that the Veteran's hearing loss may be related to military noise exposure, raising a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.
- Claimed conditions
- Hearing loss in the right ear, Hearing loss in the left ear
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2018
- Citation
- 18142468
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 18142468.
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 claim for service connection for hearing loss in the left ear as there is no evidence of a current disability meeting VA criteria.
- Denied
The Veteran's left ear hearing loss is rated as Level I, which corresponds to a noncompensable rating. The Board denied the claim for an initial compensable rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided that the Veteran does not have a current disability of hearing loss in the left ear for VA purposes, and thus denied service connection. For the right ear, the Board found that there is no evidence to support a finding that the Veteran's hearing loss was incurred during service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, migraine headaches, tinnitus, hearing loss, and erectile dysfunction, precluded him from obtaining or maintaining a substantially gainful occupation prior to January 8, 2022. The Board has granted a TDIU effective from January 8, 2022 onward.
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