Hearing loss decisions — 2001

The Board has determined that the veteran's parasellar tumor of the brain, left ear hearing loss, and tinnitus of the left ear are all service-connected. The tumors began developing during his first period of active duty service, while his hearing loss was first identified in September 1992.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss of the left ear, finding that it was not incurred during active service or related to any injury or noise exposure experienced during service.

The veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied. The Board found no evidence of a current left hip disability, and the veteran's thyroid disorder with Graves' disease was evaluated as 10 percent disabling based on continuous medication requirements without additional symptoms.

The Board finds new and material evidence to have been submitted, allowing the veteran's claim of service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability to be reopened. The claim is now considered under the presumption that it arose from noise exposure during active duty for training.

The Board has determined that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability does not warrant a compensable evaluation.

The Board has determined that the veteran's noncompensable disability evaluation for bilateral hearing loss is proper based on the audiometric test results provided.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, as well as the claim for disability of the feet claimed as residuals of frostbite. The evidence did not support a relationship between any current disabilities and service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's tinnitus and right ear hearing loss are related to service, while left ear hearing loss is not. The claims for these conditions have been granted.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there is no evidence linking his current hearing loss to noise exposure during service.

The Board has determined that the appellant's bilateral hearing loss is related to his active service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board found that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were incurred in service due to noise exposure, granting service connection for both conditions.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss as there was no current disability found, and thus did not meet the criteria for a service-connected condition.

The veteran's case is being remanded to the RO for scheduling a DRO hearing at the RO. The veteran does not need to take any further action until otherwise informed.

The veteran's bilateral hearing loss was previously rated at 10 percent prior to December 27, 2000. The RO reduced this rating to noncompensable effective December 27, 2000.

The Board found that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, tendonitis of the elbows, and residuals of a left knee injury were not related to his active service. The exposure to fuels, halon, asbestos, and choking in altitude chambers was also not supported by evidence.

The veteran's service-connected hearing loss of the left ear is currently manifested by an average pure tone threshold of 54 decibels with speech recognition ability of 100 percent. The Board finds that this does not meet the criteria for a compensable evaluation.

The veteran's claim of entitlement to an increased evaluation for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability has been remanded due to the need for additional development under the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000.

The Board has denied the veteran's claim for service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability due to lack of evidence supporting the claim.

The veteran's hearing loss disability has been rated as noncompensable, and the Board finds that this rating is appropriate based on the current audiometric results.

The Board granted a disability rating of 40 percent for lumbosacral myositis, effective from April 23, 1997. The veteran's claims for service connection for hearing loss and hair loss as due to an undiagnosed illness were denied, while the claim for service connection for chest pain as due to an undiagnosed illness was granted.