Hearing loss Board decisions

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral hearing loss and duodenal ulcer disease with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), do not render him unemployable as a result of his education and occupational experience.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss were reopened, and he was granted increased ratings for PTSD and depressive disorder with anxiety and psychophysiological gastrointestinal reaction, as well as a rating for residuals of perforation right ventricle with retained intercardiac foreign body. The claim for an increased rating for muscle groups I and III of the left pectoral region, status post-left thoracotomy, was granted.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining service treatment records and VA examinations to address the nature and etiology of his claimed conditions.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that these conditions are etiologically related to active service. Service connection was denied for a nose or throat condition (claimed as sinusitis) due to lack of evidence linking it to service.

The Board has found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is causally related to his military service and grants service connection for this condition. The issue of TDIU remains pending as it was remanded.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss is being remanded due to the inadequacy of the October 2006 VA examination in assessing the functional effects on his employment and daily life.

The Board finds that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is caused by his military service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for a compensable rating for chronic otitis media and externa of the left ear and an initial compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, finding that the evidence did not support higher ratings based on the severity of these conditions.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence was submitted to reopen the claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are found to be related to his military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss were not incurred in or aggravated by active service, nor may they be presumed to have been so incurred. The evidence does not support a finding of continuity of symptomatology since service, and there is no medical opinion linking these conditions to service.

The VA denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence of current disability or a link to service.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disability to include PTSD and depression are not supported by the evidence of record. The Board finds that there is no current diagnosis or competent medical nexus linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board determined that there is no evidence of current bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus, and the Veteran's service treatment records do not show any history of these conditions. Therefore, the claims for service connection for both conditions were denied as they are not supported by competent medical evidence.

The Veteran's cause of death, metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma, was not service-connected. The Board found that the Veteran did not have a service-connected disability that caused or contributed to his death.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining medical records and scheduling VA examinations.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding no new and material evidence to reopen his previously denied claim for bilateral hearing loss and concluding that he does not have a current disability of tinnitus.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss disability, and thus service connection cannot be granted.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his active military service, and thus grants entitlement to service connection for these conditions.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his military service, resolving all reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran.

The Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss had onset in service or is otherwise etiologically related to the Veteran's active military service, and therefore, the Board has granted service connection for this condition.