Hearing loss Board decisions

The Board has determined that the appellant does not have hearing loss in his left ear or tinnitus that is related to service. The appellant's current conditions were first noted many years after service and there is no evidence of a nexus between these conditions and any disease or injury incurred during service.

Your claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded to the RO for additional development.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's tinnitus is a result of his period of active service and grants the claim for service connection.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was not incurred or aggravated by service. The Board found no competent medical evidence linking the hearing loss to military service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a hearing before the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss is related to his active duty service, and thus grants service connection for this condition. However, there is insufficient evidence to support a finding of tinnitus being incurred in or aggravated by service.

The Veteran's hearing loss disability is currently rated at a 10 percent evaluation, effective May 25, 2004. Prior to that date, the evidence did not support any compensable rating.

The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of service treatment records and the need for an examination to determine if the Veteran currently has hearing loss disability, its etiology, and whether it is related to his military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claimed conditions, including bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and COPD, were not incurred in or aggravated by active military service.

The Veteran's claim for increased evaluations for bilateral hearing loss has been denied. The RO granted service connection and assigned noncompensable ratings for the periods prior to March 29, 2005; from March 29, 2005 until November 4, 2008; and beginning November 4, 2008.

The Board found that the Veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus are not related to his military service, as there is no evidence of a nexus between his in-service noise exposure and his current conditions. The Veteran's complaints of ringing in his ears during basic training were considered credible, but the absence of contemporaneous medical records and the lack of any probative medical evidence linking his hearing loss or tinnitus to service prevented the Board from granting service connection for these conditions.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus are not related to his military service, and therefore denied both claims for service connection.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for sensorineural hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for a new VA audiological examination to determine the severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the unavailability of his service treatment records. The Board will arrange for a VA examination to determine if these conditions are related to his military service, particularly his reported noise exposure.

The Veteran's claims for initial compensable evaluations for bilateral hearing loss and right and left knee patellofemoral syndrome were denied as his disabilities did not meet the criteria for a compensable evaluation under the applicable rating schedule.

The Veteran's combined disability rating is 70%, meeting the minimum schedular criteria for TDIU under 38 C.F.R. § 4.16(a). However, his service-connected disabilities do not render him unemployable due to their severity alone.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has not been received to reopen the claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to determine if the appellant's hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his military service. The case is REMANDED for further action.

The Veteran's right ear hearing loss was not found to be related to his active service and the Board denied entitlement to service connection.