Hearing loss decisions — 2019

The Veteran's claims for PTSD, left leg radiculopathy, tinnitus, right knee scar, sleep apnea, headaches, bilateral hearing loss, chronic right and left leg disabilities to include blood clots, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, a left knee disorder, and right and left foot diabetic neuropathy have been denied. The Veteran's claim for an initial 70% rating for PTSD has been granted.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability is rated as noncompensable, and the claim for TDIU based on his service-connected hemorrhoidectomy with fecal incontinence is moot due to his current schedular 100% rating.

The Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus are service connected as they are related to his combat noise exposure during military service.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus as the evidence did not show a relationship to military service.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to a lack of adequate opinion regarding their etiology.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including prostate cancer, PTSD, tinnitus, hearing loss disability, and erectile dysfunction, render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus have been granted, with a rating of 10 percent for the scar on his left lower lip. The Veteran's tinnitus and hearing loss are found to be related to his military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including chronic kidney disease and diabetes mellitus, contributed to his encephalopathy which caused his death. As a result, the appeal for service connection for the cause of the Veteran’s death is granted.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were denied in May 2015, but reopened and granted with an effective date of November 3, 2017 due to new evidence. The Board found that the earliest possible effective date is November 3, 2017.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been reopened and granted. The Board found that the Veteran had current bilateral hearing loss, but it did not begin during service or was otherwise related to an in-service injury.,Service connection for PTSD was granted based on a corroborated in-service stressor involving a jet crash. The Veteran's presence at NAS Miramar during this time sufficiently corroborates his reported stressor.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability is not shown to have been manifested by worse than Level I hearing acuity in the right or left ear, and therefore a compensable rating is denied.

The Veteran's tinnitus is granted as incurred in service. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is remanded for further review.

The Veteran's hearing loss is not rated as compensable, and his service connection claim for polycythemia vera due to presumed herbicide exposure within the 12 nautical mile territorial sea of Vietnam is remanded.

The Veteran requested to withdraw his appeal regarding the issue of a compensable rating for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. As a result, the Board dismissed this matter.

The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, including schizophrenia, is granted. His migraine headaches are granted a 50% rating. The hearing loss claim is remanded.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is being reopened due to the submission of new and material evidence. The case is remanded for a VA examination to determine if he has current bilateral hearing loss for VA purposes and whether it is related to his military service, including in-service noise exposure.

The Board has remanded the cases for further development due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss is remanded due to the need for an updated examination.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss has been rated as noncompensable, corresponding to Level I in the right ear and Level IV in the left ear. The appeal is denied.

The Board denied service connection for a right ear condition including hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's pre-existing conditions did not worsen during service and that his current symptoms are unrelated to military noise exposure.