The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is currently rated as non-compensably disabling, and the Board denied a higher rating.,The Veteran was granted service connection for residuals of bladder cancer with frequent urination, but his claim for an increased rating remains pending. The effective date for this grant has not been established yet.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for bilateral hearing loss is being remanded.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support a higher disability rating for the Veteran’s service-connected bilateral hearing loss, as his condition did not warrant a compensable evaluation based on the July 2017 audiometric results.,The effective date of the grant of service connection for residuals of bladder cancer with frequent urination is being remanded because there are pending issues regarding an increased rating and the Veteran has not provided sufficient evidence to establish entitlement to earlier effective dates.,The effective date for the grant of service connection for bilateral hearing loss remains unresolved, as the claim was received after May 25, 2017.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Bladder Cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2019
- Citation
- 19148502
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (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 19148502.
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.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his active service. The Board noted that while he had complaints of earaches in service, these did not indicate a current disability.
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