The Veteran's service connection claim for right ear hearing loss is denied.,The Veteran's Parkinson's Disease with balance impairment is rated at the maximum allowable under Diagnostic Code 8004-6204, and a higher rating is not granted.,Separate ratings are granted for bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, urinary problems, difficulty chewing, swallowing, and drooling, left sided speech changes, and right sided speech changes associated with Parkinson's disease.,The Veteran's service-connected left ear hearing loss does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of right ear hearing loss as determined by audiometric testing performed in July 2018, which did not meet the threshold for a disability under VA regulations.,The maximum allowable rating for Parkinson's Disease with balance impairment is already assigned and no higher rating can be granted due to the nature of the condition.,Separate ratings are granted as secondary to service-connected Parkinson's disease based on symptoms such as bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy, urinary problems, difficulty chewing, swallowing, and drooling, left sided speech changes, and right sided speech changes.,The Veteran's left ear hearing loss does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under VA regulations.
- Claimed conditions
- Right ear hearing loss, Parkinson's Disease with balance impairment, Bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy associated with Parkinson's disease, Urinary problems, associated with Parkinson's disease, Difficulty chewing, swallowing, and drooling, associated with Parkinson's disease, Right and left sided speech changes associated with Parkinson's disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2024
- Citation
- A24069843
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 749 · Granted: 28% (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 A24069843.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for further development due to insufficient evidence and need for additional examinations.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability is dismissed. The appeal for service connection for bilateral knee disabilities is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss and service connection for left ear hearing loss due to inadequate audiometric examinations. The Veteran will be scheduled for new VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of his left ear hearing loss and the severity of his hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection of hypertension and right ear hearing loss were denied. The Board has remanded these issues.,Service connection for hypertension was granted in June 2023 based on the PACT Act, but an earlier effective date is not warranted.
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