Hearing loss decisions — 2020

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are related to his military service. The decision is based on credible testimony from the Veteran and medical evidence indicating noise exposure during active duty.

The Veteran's hearing loss disability has been rated as noncompensable, and the Board denied an increased rating based on the audiometric test results.

The Board has decided to remand the cases for further development and consideration due to lack of substantial compliance with previous directives. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss claim is being remanded because a new examination is needed to address his conceded noise exposure during National Guard service. For Hodgkin's lymphoma, an addendum opinion is required as the current VA opinion does not adequately address the CDC evidence linking contaminated water at Camp Lejeune to the disease.

The Veteran's initial claim for an initial compensable disability rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss was denied. The effective date of the grant of service connection for bilateral hearing loss is set at October 23, 2017.,The Board found that there is no legal basis to award service connection for bilateral hearing loss prior to the date of receipt of the claim on October 23, 2017. The earlier effective date claim was denied as without legal merit.,Service connection for hiatal hernia disability, indigestion disability (to include as due to claimed hiatal hernia), and swallowing disability are remanded pending additional development.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there is no evidence to support a link between these conditions and his military service.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for a vestibular disability, including vertigo, lightheadedness, and dizziness, is granted as secondary to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss. The VA medical opinion found that the Veteran’s symptoms are less likely due to or caused by his service-connected conditions.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for right ear hearing loss, a rating in excess of 10 percent for degenerative arthritis of the right knee, and a compensable rating for degenerative arthritis of the left knee due to missing records and the need for further examination.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for right ear hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that new evidence supports a link between these conditions and his military service.

The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and the Appellant seeks recognition as his helpless child on the basis of permanent incapacity for self-support prior to age 18. The Board finds new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen this claim.,Service in the Philippine Commonwealth Army is not qualifying service for nonservice-connected death pension benefits. The Veteran did not have any claims pending at the time of his death, nor did he file a claim for accrued benefits within one year of his death. Therefore, entitlement to these benefits is denied.,The Veteran's only service-connected disabilities were bilateral hearing loss and PTSD. There is no evidence that these conditions caused or contributed substantially to his death from cardiopulmonary arrest secondary to sepsis secondary to community acquired pneumonia.

The Veteran's left ear hearing loss has been rated as noncompensable, with a speech discrimination score of 96% and average pure tone threshold of 35 dB. The Board found that the evidence did not warrant a compensable rating.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability has been rated at 20 percent since June 9, 2017. The Board found that the evidence supported a higher rating but denied it as no higher than 20 percent was warranted.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an effective date earlier than November 16, 2018 for the grant of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The decision found that no earlier claim was filed.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is currently rated as noncompensable, with level I hearing impairment in both ears. The Board denied an initial compensable disability rating for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss prior to January 13, 2017 was denied. The claim for left hand tremors was also denied.

The Veteran's claim for bilateral hearing loss was denied due to lack of evidence meeting VA disability criteria. The new evidence does not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.,The Veteran's claim for tinnitus was reopened as new and material evidence has been submitted, but service connection is still denied because there is no nexus between his period of service and his current condition.

The Veteran's appeal was dismissed without prejudice due to his death, as no proper substitution of the appellant has been filed.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection and evaluations of various disabilities have been dismissed. The Board has granted TDIU from January 23, 2018.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection of bilateral hearing loss, finding that it is etiologically related to noise exposure during active duty.

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

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence to support a causal relationship between his military service and his current hearing loss.