Hearing loss decisions — 2020

The Board has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there is no evidence of a current disability related to his military service or secondary to his service-connected tinnitus.

The Board has granted service connection for right ear hearing loss but denied left ear hearing loss. The decision is based on the evidence being in relative equipoise for right ear hearing loss and no current diagnosis found for left ear hearing loss.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss prior to February 26, 2020 is denied.,The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 20 percent for bilateral hearing loss since February 26, 2020 is denied.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for respiratory condition (asthma) as due to asbestos exposure is remanded.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to incomplete VA treatment records and an inadequate examination. The AOJ is required to obtain all relevant medical records, including those from Hines VAMC, and schedule a new examination to determine if the Veteran's current hearing disability is related to his military service.

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

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 50 percent, which is the maximum rating available under the General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders. His bilateral hearing loss does not warrant a compensable rating as his impairment falls within Level II in the right ear and Level IV in the left ear, both of which are considered mild to moderately severe but do not meet the criteria for a compensable rating. The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is rated at a 30 percent rating since July 6, 2020. Prior to that date, the condition did not warrant any compensation.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss and PTSD have been denied. The Veteran is currently rated at 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss prior to February 6, 2018; 40 percent from February 6, 2018, to August 2, 2018; and 80 percent since August 2, 2018. For PTSD, the Veteran is currently rated at 70 percent prior to August 16, 2016, and no higher, and 70 percent since that date.

The Board has granted service connection for the aggravation of hypertension by diabetes mellitus and denied a rating in excess of 0 percent for bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to unclear audiometric test results from private evaluations. Clarification is needed regarding the use of Maryland CNC testing and which numerical values correspond to word recognition scores in the July 2014 evaluation.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability has not been shown to be worse than Level VI in the right ear and Level III in the left ear, which falls within the schedular criteria for a 10 percent rating. Therefore, he is not entitled to an initial rating in excess of 10 percent.

The Veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to their death. The Board cannot proceed with the merits of this case as they have no jurisdiction.

Your claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been granted, but the decision does not cover your entire appeal period. The effective dates are different for each ear.

The Board denied a compensable rating for the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss, finding that his hearing acuity did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating based on audiometric testing results.

The Board has granted service connection for left ear hearing loss but denied service connection for right ear hearing loss.

The Board has remanded the cases of bilateral hearing loss and diabetes mellitus due to insufficient evidence regarding exposure to Agent Orange during service. The Veteran's claim for increased evaluation for bilateral hearing loss is also remanded as a new examination is required.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to concerns about the adequacy of the recent audiological examination, particularly regarding speech discrimination scores and whether a seal was maintained during testing.

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

The Board has granted service connection for lumbar spine disability and remanded the issue of bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's TDIU claims for the periods prior to February 1, 2017 and from December 1, 2018 were denied as his service-connected disabilities did not render him incapable of employment. The claim for TDIU during the period from February 1, 2017 to December 1, 2018 was dismissed as moot due to receipt of SMC based on a combined schedular evaluation of 100 percent.