The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied as there is no evidence of a current disability.,The effective date for the grant of service connection for tinnitus was set at July 5, 2017, based on the intent to file a claim that same day. The Veteran did not have any prior claims or communications regarding this condition before July 5, 2017.,The effective date for an increased rating for left foot hammer toes was denied as it could not be determined if there was an increase in severity of the condition within one year prior to July 5, 2017. The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was granted on July 5, 2017.,The effective date for service connection for PTSD was set at July 5, 2017, based on the intent to file a claim that day. There were no prior claims or communications regarding this condition before July 5, 2017.,For tinnitus, an initial rating in excess of 10 percent is not warranted as it is already at the maximum schedular rating.,For left foot hammer toes, an increased rating beyond 10 percent is not warranted as there was no evidence of worsening within one year prior to July 5, 2017. The Veteran's claim for PTSD was granted on this date.,The initial rating for PTSD was set at the maximum schedular rating (70%) due to the severity and frequency of symptoms.

The deciding factor: There is no current evidence of a hearing loss disability for VA purposes, as the Veteran's April 2018 VA examination results did not reflect such. The effective date was set at July 5, 2017 based on the intent to file a claim.,The effective date for tinnitus was denied because there were no prior claims or communications regarding this condition before July 5, 2017. The Veteran's claim for an increased rating was filed after the June 2015 decision denying his previous claim.,For left foot hammer toes, the evidence did not show a worsening in the condition within one year prior to July 5, 2017. Therefore, no earlier effective date could be assigned as the Veteran's claim for an increased rating was filed after this period.,The effective date for PTSD was set at July 5, 2017 based on the intent to file a claim that day. There were no prior claims or communications regarding this condition before July 5, 2017. The Veteran's claim for an increased rating was filed after the June 2015 decision denying his previous claim.,For tinnitus, the maximum schedular rating of 10 percent is already assigned and there are no other applicable diagnostic codes by which a higher rating could be awarded.,For left foot hammer toes, the Veteran's condition did not worsen within one year prior to July 5, 2017. Therefore, an earlier effective date for the increased rating was denied as the claim was filed after this period.,The initial schedular rating of 70% for PTSD is already at its maximum and no higher rating can be assigned.

Claimed conditions

Bilateral Hearing Loss, Tinnitus, Left Foot Hammer Toes, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

January 21, 2021

Citation

21003273

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 21003273.