The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and increased rating for arthritis of the right wrist were denied. The effective date for service connection was set at February 22, 2020, as this is when the medical evidence first showed the Veteran meeting the auditory threshold requirements for compensation purposes.
The deciding factor: The effective date could not be earlier than February 22, 2020, because there was no evidence of hearing loss prior to that date. The right wrist condition did not meet the schedular criteria for a higher rating as it only presented with pain and limited motion without ankylosis or involvement of multiple joints.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Arthritis of the Right Wrist
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- December 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20081317
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,044 · 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 20081317.
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.
- 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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