Hearing loss decisions — 2019

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including COPD, Paget's Disease, metabolic disorders, hypertension, gastric ulcer, and right thyroid nodule/goiter, to include as secondary to diabetes mellitus due to additional substantive development being required.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate VA examinations and incomplete service personnel records. The Veteran's hearing loss is being evaluated for possible in-service aggravation of a pre-existing condition, or direct service connection if not related to service.

The Board has dismissed the appeal for tinnitus due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal. The issues of residuals of left carpal navicular fracture and bilateral hearing loss are remanded for further evaluation.

The Board has granted service connection for kidney disease/condition due to exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune. However, the Veteran's diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, enlarged prostate with urinary incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and blurred vision are not related to his military service or exposure to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus has been denied as there is no evidence of a link between the conditions and active service.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including PTSD, prostate cancer residuals, and bilateral hearing loss, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for a broken knuckle of the right middle finger, bilateral flat feet, speech impairment and stuttering, and bilateral hearing loss were previously denied in March 2011. New evidence received since that decision does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate these claims.

The Veteran's claims for PTSD, left knee disability, low back disability, tremors of the hands and legs, cold injury residuals, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and lung disability are all remanded due to insufficient evidence or need for additional examination.

The Veteran's claims for service connection and initial ratings are being remanded due to the need for additional VA examinations and treatment records.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his in-service noise exposure.

The Veteran's appeals for compensable evaluations for bilateral hearing loss and residuals of deep rope burns to right and with fracture of index finger with residual degenerative joint disease of index finger have been dismissed due to the withdrawal of his appeal.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss was evaluated as noncompensable, with the VA examiner finding that his hearing acuity did not impact ordinary conditions of daily life.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current tinnitus is etiologically related to his military service. Service connection for bilateral hearing loss was denied as there was no evidence of in-service noise exposure or a diagnosis of hearing loss.

The Veteran's hearing loss in the right ear and tinnitus are granted as service-connected.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are granted as service-connected due to exposure to acoustic trauma during active service.

The Veteran's left ear hearing loss is granted as service connected, with the Board finding that the evidence is in equipoise and resolving all doubts in favor of the Veteran.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to address the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, cardiomyopathy, neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities. The claims are being remanded due to concerns about the sufficiency of the VA examinations and the need for further medical opinions.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's intermittent tinnitus began in service and continues to this day. Service connection was denied for bilateral hearing loss due to insufficient evidence of a nexus between current hearing loss and service.

The Veteran's hearing loss was found to be at Level I in the right ear and Level XI in the left ear, resulting in a 10% disability rating. As the audiometric findings showed an exceptional pattern of hearing impairment in the left ear, which resulted in Level X hearing impairment, a non-compensable (zero percent) rating is assigned.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to June 26, 2012 for dependency allowance was denied as the required certification of dependents' status was not received within one year of a September 2000 notification letter. The Board found that there was no clear evidence to rebut the presumption of regularity regarding the delivery of the September 2000 notice.