The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss as the evidence did not support a current disability. The appeal was also remanded to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error regarding the claim for service connection for bilateral pes planus with metatarsalgia and plantar fasciitis.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran does not have a hearing loss disability for VA purposes, as his pure tone thresholds at the enumerated frequencies are all less than 40 decibels, he did not have thresholds for at least three frequencies that were 26 decibels or greater, and his speech recognition score was in excess of 94 percent in each ear.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral hearing loss, Bilateral pes planus with metatarsalgia and plantar fasciitis (claimed as foot pain)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 12, 2025
- Citation
- A25097800
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 709 · Granted: 38% (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 A25097800.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for a low back disorder was reopened, and his claims for increased ratings of bilateral knee instability were granted. His hearing loss claim was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeals of the initial ratings for his service-connected chronic cough and bilateral hearing loss are remanded due to procedural errors in the evidentiary record.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral pes planus with hammer toes, hallux valgus and degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and bilateral kidney cysts, rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment. The Board granted the TDIU based on these conditions.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities (bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus) do not prevent him from securing and maintaining substantially gainful employment.
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