The Veteran's claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss is granted, and his petition to reopen the claim is also granted. The Board finds that the Veteran's sensorineural hearing loss in his left ear is etiologically related to noise exposure during active service. A VA audiological examination is needed to assess the current severity of his service-connected bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows a nexus between the Veteran’s in-service noise exposure and his current left ear hearing loss, which meets the criteria for direct service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, sensorineural hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2020
- Citation
- 20081907
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.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of left ear hearing loss due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as an addendum opinion is necessary to address evidence of in-service hearing loss and convert audiometric testing results from ASA to ISO-ANSI standards.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss to obtain an adequate VA opinion addressing the hearing loss demonstrated on the September 1968 and July 1974 examination, under both ASA and ISO-ANSI standards.
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