BVA decisions by condition
Left ear hearing loss: BVA grant rates and what wins
From 2017 to 2026, the Board of Veterans' Appeals decided a left ear hearing loss issue in 546 decisions. It granted the left ear hearing loss issue in 1.6% of them, below the 19.4% grant rate for all conditions, denied it in 10.1%, and remanded it in 85.0%. Counting only decisions on the merits (granted or denied), 14.1% were granted.
From Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions: appeals, not VA's first decisions. Issue-level outcomes.
Decisions
546
2017–2026
Granted
1.6%
All conditions: 19.4%
Granted on the merits
14.1%
Granted ÷ (granted + denied)
Remanded
85.0%
Denied: 10.1%
At a glance
Evidence in granted and denied left ear hearing loss decisions
For each kind of supporting evidence: how often the Board granted the left ear hearing loss issue on the merits when the decision mentioned it, compared with decisions that did not. These are associations, not causes, and evidence is recorded per decision, not per issue.
| In the record | Decisions | Granted when present | When absent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Favorable VA exam | 119 | 33.3% | 9.6% | +23.7 pts |
| Positive nexus opinion | 147 | 28.6% | 10.0% | +18.6 pts |
| Combat service | 54 | 20.0% | 13.6% | +6.4 pts |
| Lay statement | 472 | 15.2% | 11.1% | +4.1 pts |
| Private medical opinion | 190 | 13.6% | 14.3% | −0.6 pts |
- The Board applied the benefit-of-the-doubt rule (38 CFR 3.102) in 77.8% of the decisions that granted left ear hearing loss.
- The Board found the veteran's statements credible in 55.6% of grants and 18.2% of denials.
Negative evidence in the record
An unfavorable exam or a negative nexus opinion often sits in the same record as favorable evidence, and the Board weighs them against each other. So these rows show how often left ear hearing loss was still granted when the record contained the negative item, not that the item helped.
| In the record | Decisions | Granted when present | When absent | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Negative nexus opinion | 319 | 24.1% | 5.7% | +18.4 pts |
| Unfavorable VA exam | 464 | 15.4% | 8.3% | +7.1 pts |
Recent left ear hearing loss decisions
Granted
Denied
Left ear hearing loss outcomes by year
| Year | Issues decided | Granted | Denied | Remanded | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 55 | 0.0% | 1.8% | 96.4% | 1.8% |
| 2019 | 74 | 1.4% | 12.2% | 83.8% | 2.7% |
| 2020 | 55 | 1.8% | 7.3% | 83.6% | 7.3% |
| 2021 | 63 | 1.6% | 7.9% | 85.7% | 4.8% |
| 2022 | 60 | 3.3% | 6.7% | 86.7% | 3.3% |
| 2023 | 67 | 1.5% | 13.4% | 82.1% | 3.0% |
| 2024 | 70 | 4.3% | 14.3% | 80.0% | 1.4% |
| 2025 | 54 | 0.0% | 16.7% | 83.3% | 0.0% |
Each row counts issues (each condition the Board decided), so the shares add up to 100%. Other: dismissed, withdrawn or no clear outcome. Years with fewer than 50 issues are left out.
Rules that apply to left ear hearing loss claims
- 38 CFR 3.303
Principles of service connection
Read it in VA Law Explorer - 38 CFR 3.310
Secondary service connection and aggravation
Read it in VA Law Explorer - 38 CFR 3.102
Reasonable doubt (benefit of the doubt)
Read it in VA Law Explorer
Research your left ear hearing loss case
Narrow by year, judge, evidence or secondary condition, read the decisions, and export a research memo.
How these numbers are calculated
- Rates count decisions in which the Board decided a left ear hearing loss issue, by the outcome of that issue. Other issues in the same decision can have different outcomes.
- “Granted on the merits” leaves out remands and dismissals. “All conditions” is the grant share across every condition issue in the data.
- The data comes from CaseScribe's AI extraction of public BVA decisions (2017–2026) and can contain errors. It is updated automatically as new decisions are added.
Where this data comes from
- Claim
- Regional office decides
- Veteran appeals
- Board decides
- Granted · Denied · Remanded: back to the regional office
Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions show how VA's highest review body applies 38 CFR and weighs evidence on contested claims.
Each one is an appeal: a regional office decided the claim first, and the veteran appealed. So these rates describe the Board, not a veteran's odds at the regional office, where most claims are decided and whose decisions are not public.
More on what Board decisions can and cannot tell you