The Board denied service connection for left ear hearing loss and remanded claims for right shoulder disability, low back disorder, eczema, and right ear hearing loss.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's preexisting left ear hearing loss did not increase in severity beyond its natural progression during his active service. The remaining issues were remanded to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, right shoulder disability with partial resection of the clavicle and degenerative arthritis, low back disorder, eczema, right ear hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 11, 2025
- Citation
- A25034041
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for right ear hearing loss, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor based on a finding of etiological relation to in-service noise exposure.
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