The Veteran's right ear hearing loss and tinnitus are granted as service-connected, while his DJD left knee is denied. The effective date for PTSD service connection is set at December 5, 2011.
The deciding factor: The March 2014 DBQ examination established the presence of a right ear sensorineural hearing loss disability and linked it to service. Tinnitus was also found to be present since service. The November 2012 DBQ examiner concluded that DJD left knee is not related to service, given its post-service onset. For PTSD, the effective date was set at December 5, 2011 based on the earliest factually ascertainable date of entitlement.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear hearing loss, right ear tinnitus, degenerative joint disease (DJD) left knee
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- November 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19184655
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (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 19184655.
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 Veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for onychomycosis was denied as the condition did not require treatment and covered less than 5% of his body. The Board also remanded issues regarding service connection for left ear hearing loss and entitlement to a compensable disability rating for right ear hearing loss.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection of right ear hearing loss, and the case is dismissed.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection of sleep apnea, left lower extremity (LLE) sciatic nerve radiculopathy, and right ear hearing loss due to untimely filing.,The Board also dismissed the appeal for service connection of left ear hearing loss as moot because it was already granted in a prior decision.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration of the Veteran's claims for service connection for right ear hearing loss. The Veteran does not have left ear hearing loss for VA purposes.
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