The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeal for service connection for right ear hearing loss and left ear hearing loss due to untimely Notice of Disagreement, and denied service connection for tumors of the central nervous system. The claims for psychiatric disorder, arthritis, and low back condition were remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The claims for right ear and left ear hearing loss were dismissed because the Veteran's Notice of Disagreement was not timely filed within one year of the rating decisions, and there was no good cause shown. The claim for tumors of the central nervous system was denied due to a lack of evidence showing current disability.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear hearing loss, left ear hearing loss, tumors of the central nervous system, psychiatric disorder, arthritis, low back condition
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2025
- Citation
- A25026037
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the appeal to obtain a VA medical opinion that considers the Veteran's contentions of in-service training with heavy gear and equipment.
- 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.
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