The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus have been granted, as well as a 60% rating for eczema and psoriasis effective February 13, 2013. The claim for an earlier effective date for the PTSD with MDD rating has been denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were found to be related to service due to in-service acoustic trauma, while his eczema and psoriasis have been rated based on constant or near-constant systemic therapy including topical corticosteroids. The PTSD with MDD rating has been granted at 70% effective February 13, 2013.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, Eczema and Psoriasis, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- June 17, 2019
- Citation
- 19147202
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,772 · Granted: 37% (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 19147202.
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 service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
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