The Veteran's claims for service connection for left ear hearing loss, right ear hearing loss, lower extremity pain, and an acquired psychiatric disorder have been denied. The effective date claim for left ear hearing loss is dismissed without prejudice to a potential CUE claim. The rating for left ear hearing loss remains noncompensable.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left ear hearing loss did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating based on audiometric testing results and functional impact, which were within the schedular criteria for Level I in both July 2015 and February 2017 evaluations.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, acquired psychiatric disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 18, 2021
- Citation
- 21069457
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 21069457.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of entitlement to service connection for headaches, right hip disorder, left hip disorder, back disorder, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to a failure to provide notice regarding the Veteran's right to a hearing.
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