Hearing loss decisions — 2024

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further development and examination due to missing service medical records, conflicting evidence regarding qualifying Southwest Asia service, and incomplete information about the nature of his conditions.

The Board has determined that a new examination is needed for the Veteran's knee and hearing loss disabilities, as well as an expanded psychiatric disability claim. The claims are being remanded to allow for these examinations.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a disease or injury during service and insufficient continuity of symptomatology to establish service connection.,The effective date for the award of service connection for tinnitus was set at December 3, 2018, as this is the earliest possible date based on when the Veteran submitted his VA Form 526EZ application.

The Board has dismissed the appeal for service connection on four issues: right shoulder disability, depression, obstructive sleep apnea, and right ear hearing loss due to an administrative error in docketing the case twice under identical numbers.

The Board denied the Veteran's appeal as the July 5, 2019, VA Form 9 was not timely filed. The claims for service connection were decided on the merits and found to be denied.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for an additional medical opinion to determine whether his current bilateral hearing loss warrants compensation under 38 C.F.R. § 1151, due to VA treatment for ear problems from November 2013 to February 2014.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for depression, right shoulder disability, lower back (lumbar spine) disability, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and right ear hearing loss due to potential service connection issues.

The Board has withdrawn the appeal for asthma prior to July 13, 2020. The claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded due to a need for further examination.

The Veteran's claims for infertility, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and a dental disability (tooth loss) have been remanded due to insufficient evidence. The Board found that the current conditions are not related to service.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss but remanded the issue of service connection for vertigo to include BPPV as secondary to bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for neck, bilateral hearing loss, and bilateral wrist disabilities was dismissed as the substantive appeal did not include these issues.

Service connection is granted for tinnitus and residuals of cervical spine disc herniations at C5-6 and C6-7 with narrowing of neural foramina, status post anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) surgery.,Service connection is remanded for a lumbar spine condition and bilateral plantar fasciitis. Service connection is also remanded for bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is currently rated as 20 percent disabling, and the Board has determined that a rating in excess of this level is not warranted based on the audiometric test results.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following substantially gainful employment.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is found to have begun during service and has been continuous since then, meeting the criteria for service connection.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional examinations and development of the record to determine the current severity of his service-connected left ear hearing loss, the nature and etiology of his claimed right ear hearing loss, whether he has a current disability of obstructive sleep apnea secondary to service-connected tinnitus, and the relationship between his testicular cancer and in-service exposure. The Veteran's dental claims are also remanded for further development.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding whether the Veteran's right ear hearing loss is related to service, specifically addressing delayed-onset hearing loss and in-service noise exposure.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss, finding that the evidence supports a conclusion that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's hearing loss was caused by his military service.

The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional examinations and etiological opinions regarding his claimed disabilities.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus but has remanded the issue of bilateral hearing loss due to new evidence and need for further examination.