Hearing loss decisions — 2017

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus disabilities are related to his active service, including exposure to noise during military service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, foot disorder, knee disorder, lumbar spine disorder, and breathing disorder are all granted.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for sleep disorder, hearing loss, lumbar spine spondylolisthesis with degenerative disease L5-S1, right ankle post-operative residuals, traumatic arthritis, and left knee retropatellar pain syndrome to allow for additional development.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability for VA purposes due to his right ear hearing loss, and finds that there is no causal relationship between his left ear hearing loss and service. Therefore, the claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the initial compensable rating for hearing loss prior to July 14, 2017 and a rating in excess of 10 percent thereafter.

The Board found that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss disability did not originate in service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Board has found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is not related to his service, including as secondary to his service-connected tinnitus.

The Board found that the reduction of the rating for bilateral hearing loss from 70% to 40%, effective February 1, 2010, was proper. The Veteran is not currently unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation due to service-connected disabilities.

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

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development to determine if he qualifies for TDIU on an extraschedular basis due to his service-connected disabilities.

The Board has remanded the case for a new VA audiological opinion to determine if the Veteran's current left ear hearing loss is related to service, including his March 1964 separation audiometric finding.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to inadequate medical opinions in the prior VA examination.

The Veteran's conductive hearing loss in the left ear, status post-mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty with ear reconstruction and placement of prosthetic bone is rated at zero percent. A separate 10 percent rating for vertigo/dizziness associated with his service-connected hearing loss in the left ear has been granted.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss, degenerative joint disease of the right knee, and left knee chondromalacia were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support additional staged ratings for any time period on appeal.

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 Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been received to reopen the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss, left knee disability, right knee disability, and low back disability. The claim for L4-S1 radiculopathy of the left lower extremity with muscle atrophy is granted.

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

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was evaluated as 20 percent prior to March 29, 2017 and 30 percent since that date. The claim for increased evaluation is denied.

The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, taken as a whole, did not prevent him from obtaining or retaining substantially gainful employment prior to December 29, 2010.

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