Hearing loss decisions — 2013

The Board finds that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his active service, including exposure to noise during his job as an aircraft mechanic. The criteria for service connection have been met.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim to restore service connection for a hearing loss disability, finding that the May 2007 award of service connection was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous. The issue of entitlement to TDIU is remanded due to the need for additional development.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals for all issues except for the initial evaluation higher than 10 percent for hypertension. As a result, these claims are dismissed.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus is being remanded due to incomplete development of the claims file, including a need for another VA audiological examination.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between these conditions and his military service.

The Board has granted a rating of 40 percent for intervertebral disc syndrome and L5-S1 DDD effective October 22, 2008. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is found to be related to service.

The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the need for additional development of his VA treatment records, including those from July 2007 to March 2012. The case will be reviewed again after these records have been obtained.

The Board denied service connection for left ear hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current hearing loss did not occur during his military service and was more likely due to other factors such as civilian noise exposure.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability is not shown to be manifested by puretone threshold averages and/or speech recognition scores that translate to higher than a Level II designation in either ear, thus the claim for an initial compensable rating has been denied.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities have not prevented him from securing and following substantially gainful employment prior to April 27, 2011.

The VA determined that the Veteran does not have a current bilateral hearing loss disability and thus, denied his claim for service connection.

The Veteran's appeal has been withdrawn, and the case is dismissed.

The Board has remanded the case due to the Veteran's request for a personal hearing. The claims of reopening service connection for hearing loss, right ear and tinnitus are still pending.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining missing service records and scheduling VA examinations to assess his hearing loss and skin disorder.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to his failure to appear for a scheduled hearing and because the type of hearing requested (videoconference or Travel Board) has not been clarified.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are found to be related to his military service, with the Board granting service connection for both conditions.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss has been withdrawn, and the Board is dismissing the appeal.

The Veteran's appeal regarding a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and a rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus has been denied. The assigned schedular evaluations are considered adequate, and referral to the Under Secretary for Benefits is not required.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss is not related to his military service and thus denied his claim for service connection.

The VA determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss is not related to his military service, as there was no evidence of hearing impairment during or immediately after service. The Board found the medical opinion provided by the VA examiner in November 2012 to be adequate and supported by a sufficient rationale.