Hearing loss decisions — 2005

The Board found that the veteran's right ear hearing loss was not incurred or aggravated by active service and denied his claim for service connection.

The veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the need for further development, including obtaining his service personnel records and scheduling a VA examination.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are granted, with the conditions meeting the criteria for direct service connection.

Service connection is granted for post-traumatic arthritis of C3 and C4, but denied for degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine. Service connection is also granted for arthritis of both knees, but hearing loss of the right ear remains denied.,The veteran's traumatic arthritis of the cervical spine is linked to an injury sustained while on active duty.

The Board found no evidence of a current disability for any of the conditions and concluded that service connection was not warranted.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for left ear hearing loss and service connection for right ear hearing loss, finding no evidence of a compensable disability or exposure to noise that would support these claims.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and found that it was incurred during active service due to noise exposure. The claim is therefore granted.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a medical opinion regarding whether any of the veteran's service-connected disabilities, or the medication used to treat these disabilities, caused or contributed to his death from vascular thrombosis.

The RO granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss but assigned a noncompensable rating. The appeal is being remanded due to the need to obtain VA medical records from San Juan VAMC.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his military service.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss with a 10 percent rating, effective November 9, 1999. The claim of entitlement to service connection for back disability was reopened and the issue is remanded for further development. Service connection for bilateral eye disability was denied on the merits.

The Board has assigned a 70 percent rating for PTSD effective from January 1, 2005. The veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for bilateral high frequency hearing loss is remanded to the RO.

The veteran's bilateral hearing loss has been rated at 10 percent since November 4, 2004. The Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted for the period from May 27, 1998 to November 3, 2004 and does not find any basis for granting a rating in excess of 10 percent since November 4, 2004.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a hearing loss disability of the left ear, finding that there was no competent medical evidence linking his current disability to his military service.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including left long thoracic nerve neurapraxia, low back disorder, neurological condition with headaches, dizziness and light-headedness, shortening of the left lower extremity, first degree AV block, respiratory disorder, hearing loss, skin condition of the hands and feet (claimed as a foot disorder due to frostbite), facial lacerations, nasal fracture, teeth numbers 8 and 9 for VA dental treatment, and jaw disability. The claims were found not to have been incurred in service.

The Board has granted a 60 percent disability rating for the service-connected hearing loss of the right ear, effective from August 9, 2004. The veteran's chronic headache disability claim is being remanded.

The veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the need for a VA examination to determine if these conditions are related to his military service.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain additional medical records and for a VA examination. The issues of service connection for various disabilities are under review.

The Board has determined that the veteran's initial zero percent (noncompensable) rating for bilateral hearing loss is proper, and that a compensable evaluation has not been met at any time since March 7, 2002.