Hearing loss decisions — 2009

The Veteran's service connection for a right knee disability was granted, while the evaluations for bilateral tinnitus and degenerative disc disease (DDD) L4-5 with L4-5 radiculopathy were denied.

The veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are service-connected due to in-service noise exposure.

The Board denied service connection for PTSD, and the remaining issues are being remanded.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to service, but his depression and PTSD are not.

The Board grants service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding the evidence is in relative equipoise regarding a nexus to military noise exposure.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss does not meet the criteria for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent.

The Board vacated its previous decision and remanded the case to provide the veteran with a Travel Board or Video hearing before a Veterans Law Judge.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection for a left leg disability, bilateral hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus are not supported by the evidence.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that the evidence did not support higher evaluations or additional service-connected conditions.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral shoulder pain and grinding, lower back pain, chest pain, visual black spots and floaters, and right ear hearing loss as there was no evidence of a current disability.

The Board granted service connection for left ear hearing loss and denied service connection for right ear hearing loss.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding no evidence of a relationship between these conditions and his active military service.

The appeal is remanded to obtain additional evidence and ensure compliance with the requirements set forth in Dingess v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 473 (2006).

The Board remands the claims for further development of the record, including a review of the Veteran's complete service personnel file and additional requests to JSRRC for deck logs.

The Board has reopened the claims for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus, and granted service connection for both conditions.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability as there was no evidence to support a direct link between the Veteran's current hearing loss and his military service, despite exposure to acoustic trauma.

The claim for service connection for low back degenerative changes with radiculopathy and surgical residuals was reopened, but the evidence did not support a finding of direct service connection. The claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied as new and material evidence was not provided.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss was denied as the evidence did not support an increase in severity of the disability.

The appeal is remanded for a new VA examination to determine the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss as there was no evidence of in-service incurrence or continuity of symptomatology.