The Veteran's left ear hearing loss and perforated left tympanic membrane have been denied due to the lack of evidence supporting higher disability ratings.,Service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, panic disorder with agoraphobia, and generalized anxiety disorder, is remanded as there are insufficient medical opinions addressing all diagnoses.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left ear hearing loss was found to be at level II, which does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating. The perforated left tympanic membrane did not result in any manifestations considered compensable.,There are insufficient medical opinions addressing all of the Veteran’s psychiatric diagnoses and their relationship to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Ear Hearing Loss, Perforated Left Tympanic Membrane
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2019
- Citation
- A19002882
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,429 · Granted: 29% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19002882.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
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 service-connected disabilities did not prevent him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation prior to August 31, 2020.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased evaluations have been remanded due to the need for further evaluation. The effective dates for the grants of service connection are not being granted earlier than November 25, 2019.
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