The Veteran's service connection for left ear hearing loss disability is denied as there is no evidence of a current disability that is related to his active duty service.,The Veteran's right ear hearing loss disability does not warrant a compensable initial rating, with the highest level being Level VIII under VA regulations.,The Veteran's status post lumbar spine fusion, L3-S1 for DDD, has not been shown to warrant an increased rating beyond what is already assigned.
The deciding factor: There is no evidence of a current left ear hearing loss disability that can be linked to service. The Veteran had normal hearing in his left ear during service and the earliest documented hearing loss was more than three years after separation from service.,The Veteran's right ear hearing loss disability does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating as it is only at Level VIII, which corresponds to 0% disability under VA regulations. The highest level of impairment (Level XI) would require pure tone thresholds averaging 70 decibels or more in both ears.,The Veteran's status post lumbar spine fusion, L3-S1 for DDD, has not been shown to have associated bowel and/or bladder symptoms, which is a requirement for an increased rating beyond the current assigned level of 20%.
- Claimed conditions
- Left Ear Hearing Loss Disability, Right Ear Hearing Loss Disability, Status Post Lumbar Spine Fusion, L3-S1 for Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 18, 2019
- Citation
- 19119449
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19119449.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's service connection claims for IBS, hypertension, right ear hearing loss disability, and initial compensable rating for allergic rhinitis have all been denied.,Specifically, the Board found no current diagnosis of IBS during the appeal period. The claim for hypertension was not granted on a presumptive basis as there is no evidence showing it manifested to a degree of 10 percent disabling within one year of separation from service. Service connection for right ear hearing loss disability and initial compensable rating for allergic rhinitis were also denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and left ear hearing loss disability, but remanded the issue of a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss. The increased rating claim for IVDS was withdrawn by the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for a right ear hearing loss disability and a left ear hearing loss disability for further development, including obtaining additional VA examination opinions.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea has been dismissed.,Service connection for left ear hearing loss is denied. The Board finds that the evidence does not support a current diagnosis of left ear hearing loss disability.
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