The Board denied initial disability ratings in excess of 70 percent for PTSD, 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss, and 30 percent for COPD with asthma. The claims for service connection for various disabilities were remanded.

The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms did not more nearly approximate total occupational and social impairment for the service-connected conditions, and there was no evidence of gross impairment in thought processes or communication, persistent delusions or hallucinations, etc., which would warrant a higher rating.

Claimed conditions

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Bilateral Hearing Loss, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease with Asthma, Lumbar Spine Disability, Right Hip Disability, Right Ankle Disability, Left Ankle Disability, Right Lower Extremity Neurological Disability, Left Lower Extremity Neurological Disability, Right Knee Disability, Left Knee Disability, Basal Cell Carcinoma (above left eyebrow, left side of neck), Diabetes Mellitus

How they argued it

Direct service connection

Exposure basis

None

Rating assigned

None in this decision

Decision date

October 14, 2025

Citation

A25088504

Want to see how appeals like this one tend to go? Appeals like mine