Hearing loss decisions — 2021

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss as there was no evidence of a current disability and the Veteran's lay statements were not competent to establish his claim.

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

The Board has granted the Veteran's appeals for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that both conditions began during his military service.

The Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and throat cancer were pending at the time of his death. The appellant was not granted accrued benefits as she did not meet the statutory and regulatory requirements.

The Veteran's PTSD is granted an initial disability rating of 70 percent, effective November 28, 2018. The hearing loss remains rated at 10 percent.

The Board has remanded the cases due to conflicting medical opinions regarding the Veteran's right knee condition and bilateral hearing loss. The examiner must provide an addendum opinion on whether the Veteran’s current conditions are proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected conditions.

The Veteran's appeal regarding the reduction of his rating for bilateral hearing loss from 20 percent to 10 percent is dismissed.,Service connection for cardiomyopathy and sinus tachycardia prior to September 12, 2016, is denied as there was no communication in that period seeking service connection. The effective date of the awards cannot be earlier than September 12, 2016.,The Veteran's appeal for a rating in excess of 10 percent for COPD is remanded due to need for updated VA and private treatment records.,The Veteran's claim for permanency of a total rating for service-connected cardiomyopathy is remanded as the current medical opinion on permanent disability is needed.,The Veteran's TDIU prior to September 12, 2016, is remanded due to its inextricability with the COPD claim.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient rationale in previous VA opinions and a need for additional development, including obtaining new medical opinions.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded to obtain additional information and evidence, as well as to schedule VA examinations. The effective date of the award of service connection is denied.

The Veteran's hearing loss was found to be at Level I in both ears, resulting in a noncompensable rating. The Board denied the claim for a compensable rating.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to conflicting medical opinions and inconsistencies in audiometric testing.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is currently rated as non-compensable, and the Board finds no basis for a compensable rating.,Service connection for the low back disability and right knee condition are denied due to lack of evidence showing aggravation beyond its natural progression during service.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that the Veteran's current hearing loss is not related to his military service and did not worsen during service.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss has been denied as there is no evidence of a current disability and the preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that his hearing loss began during service or is related to in-service noise exposure.,For the period prior to May 25, 2019, the Veteran's claim for nonservice-connected pension benefits has been denied as he did not meet the requirements for permanent and total disability due to nonservice-connected disabilities.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus have been reopened due to the introduction of new and material evidence. The Board has determined that there is at least an equipoise of evidence in favor of a link between the Veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus and his in-service noise exposure, thus granting service connection for both conditions.

The Veteran's appeal for an initial rating in excess of 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss has been denied.,The Board has remanded the issue of service connection for a right ear disability, to include cholesteatoma.

The Veteran's claims for service connection of left ear hearing loss, tinnitus, and right ear hearing loss have been granted. The issue of service connection for right ear hearing loss is remanded.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the issues of service connection for left ear hearing loss and rating for right ear hearing loss.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to a duty-to-assist error in not considering the Veteran's lay statements regarding his symptoms during service.

The Board has found that the Veteran's hearing loss disability is currently rated appropriately, but has remanded for a VA examination to determine if there are any psychiatric manifestations of his service-connected hearing loss.