Hearing loss decisions — 2024

The Board has decided that more evidence is needed to determine if the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to his military service. The Veteran will need to provide any missing records from a community care provider.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus as new evidence did not support the claims.

The Board has dismissed the appeals for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and low back condition due to untimely filing of Notice of Disagreement. The appeal for sleep apnea is remanded.

The Board has determined that the VA examination provided is not adequate for addressing the Veteran's claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The matter must be remanded to provide a new, adequate examination.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to a conflict in the medical opinion regarding the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The claim will be reconsidered with an addendum medical opinion.

The appeal of a duty to assist error during higher-level review for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is dismissed.

The Board has decided to remand the claims of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The Veteran's MOS was Infantry, which had a high probability for hazardous noise exposure.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations in various service-connected conditions are being remanded due to a pre-decisional error where the VA failed to provide her with scheduled VA examinations. The Veteran is required to be provided additional opportunities for these exams.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to January 19, 2022, for service connection of bilateral hearing loss was denied. The Veteran also had a claim for an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss which was denied.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's cervical spine condition, left heel condition, left knee strain, left shoulder condition, lumbar spine condition, and left foot condition, all of which are found to be related to his active service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss did not manifest in service or within one year thereafter and is not otherwise causally related to his military service, including noise exposure. Therefore, service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied.

The Veteran's service connection claim for bilateral hearing loss is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. An additional medical opinion is needed from an audiologist regarding the etiology of his current bilateral hearing loss.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss as the Veteran does not have a current disability of such disorder as defined by VA regulations and there is no recent diagnosis prior to his filing of a claim.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the evidence is in approximate balance as to whether these conditions began during or as a result of his active service.

The Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss and obstructive sleep apnea were denied as the evidence did not support a finding of in-service onset or connection to service.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss, right knee chondromalacia patella, and residuals of crushed injury to the third and fourth digits of the right hand were all denied as not meeting the criteria for a compensable rating.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss is denied as the evidence does not show that his hearing impairment was more than Level I in either ear at any point during the appeal period.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss, finding that the evidence is in approximate balance showing these conditions began during active duty training (ACDUTRA) after noise exposure and have continued since.

The Board denied an effective date prior to September 20, 2021, for the award of an increased rating of 40 percent for bilateral hearing loss.

The Board remands the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss due to an inadequate VA examination.