The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and granted a 100% rating for PTSD effective March 2, 2017. The Veteran's symptoms of PTSD included suicidal ideation, auditory hallucinations, and difficulty in completing activities of daily living.
The deciding factor: The Veteran exhibited symptoms more nearly approximating total occupational and social impairment throughout the period on appeal, including recurrent suicidal ideation and auditory hallucinations.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, PTSD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 70%
- Decision date
- January 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20004359
Veterans Law Judge
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 20004359.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board of Veterans' Appeals has granted service connection for PTSD and Mood Disorders, both presumed conditions under the PACT Act.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss, migraine headaches, and PTSD due to additional development of records and examination.
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