The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the claim for gum disease virus. The Veteran was granted an earlier effective date of August 3, 2017, but no earlier, for a 10 percent rating for pseudofolliculitis barbae.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not support a finding of current bilateral hearing loss and the October 2020 VA examination was inadequate. The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for pseudofolliculitis barbae was granted based on the earliest formal or informal claim received by VA.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Pseudofolliculitis barbae, Gum disease virus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- May 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25040566
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, as there was no evidence of a current disability in the right ear and insufficient evidence to establish a nexus between the left ear hearing loss and service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the matter for a medical clarification regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected epilepsy has aggravated his bilateral hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss to obtain an addendum opinion addressing the Veteran's lay statements regarding in-service acoustic trauma and a rocket blast injury.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
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