Hearing loss decisions — 2015

The Board finds that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are not related to his military service, as there is no evidence of in-service noise exposure or current disabilities meeting VA compensation criteria. The claims for service connection are therefore denied.

The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, right leg disability, left hand disability, and sleep apnea have been dismissed due to his death.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including new VA examinations to assess the severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and seborrheic keratosis.

All issues are remanded for additional development including obtaining private treatment records and VA medical opinions. The Veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension, skin cancer, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and PTSD will be addressed.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for right foot disability, right knee disability, left knee disability, left shoulder disability, and lumbar spine disability due to incomplete development.

The reduction of the disability evaluation for bilateral hearing loss from 10 percent to noncompensable was proper. The Veteran's cervical spine and left upper extremity disabilities are remanded for additional examinations.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and determined that new and material evidence has been received. The Veteran's current hearing loss disability is considered to be related to his in-service noise exposure, and thus service connection is granted.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding the relationship between hearing loss and tinnitus and service, as well as other issues.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings for his hearing disabilities have been denied as the evidence does not show that he has a current disability or that any such disability is related to military service.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss and posttraumatic stress disorder are being remanded due to the need to obtain additional VA treatment records.

The Board has determined that the appellant's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are as likely due to noise exposure during his military service, specifically while serving in the Navy Reserve. Therefore, these conditions have been granted service connection.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination to assess his current level of bilateral hearing loss severity, as well as recent VA treatment records.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a right knee disorder, left knee disability, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. The denial of the right knee claim is final as it was previously denied in December 1997 without new and material evidence being submitted. The left knee and hearing loss/tinnitus claims are pending.

The Veteran's right ear hearing loss disability is found to have resulted from acoustic trauma during service and the Board has granted service connection for this condition. The issue of entitlement to service connection for vertigo was also addressed, with the Board finding that it may be related to his military service.

The Veteran's tinnitus is related to his military service and he is granted service connection for this condition.,For the right ankle disability, a rating in excess of 20 percent is not warranted as there is no evidence of ankylosis or limitation of motion that would justify such a higher rating.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his military noise exposure, and thus grants service connection for both conditions.

The Board determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss warranted a rating of 10 percent, which is the maximum schedular rating available under VA regulations. The evidence did not support a higher evaluation.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension is granted. The Board finds that the evidence is in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran's hypertension had its onset during active service, and thus grants service connection.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss and granted it. The right ear hearing loss claim is also granted.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss has been evaluated as noncompensable throughout the appeal period. The VA and private audiometric evaluations have consistently shown no worse than Level I hearing acuity in both ears, which corresponds to a noncompensable disability rating.