Hearing loss Board decisions

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran's tinnitus is found to be related to his military service, while the evidence does not support a current disability of bilateral hearing loss.

The Veteran's service connection claims for bilateral hearing loss, degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine and related radiculopathy conditions are all granted. The Veteran also has a secondary service-connected spinal scar.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are service-connected, but the case for hypothyroidism is remanded due to a lack of medical examination or opinion prior to the rating decision.

The Veteran's service connection claims for tinnitus, an acquired psychiatric disability (including depression, somatic symptom disorder, and anxiety), and bilateral hearing loss as secondary to his service-connected tinnitus have been granted. The claim for hypertension and migraine headaches is remanded.

The Veteran's appeal for service connection for treatment purposes only under 38 U.S.C. Chapter 17 for adjustment disorder with mixed disturbances of emotions and conduct, personality disorder is dismissed as the issue has been fully granted. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, left hand disability, right hand disability, left knee disability, and right knee disability are all denied.

The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 30 percent for bilateral hearing loss is denied. The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for prostate cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), rhinitis, and right ankle sprain due to inadequate medical opinions.,The VA examiner failed to provide adequate rationale for their negative opinion regarding the Veteran's prostate cancer claim. The Board finds a pre-decisional duty to assist error as there is no adequate medical opinion of record addressing whether the Veteran's prostate cancer is etiologically related to his military service.

The appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss disorder is denied.,The appeal for service connection of bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy disorder is denied.,The disability rating for the service-connected lumbar spine disability was restored to 10 percent effective September 6, 2022.

The Veteran's tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss have been granted service connection.,A disability evaluation of 30 percent for a left shoulder disability has also been granted.

The Veteran's tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss have been granted service connection, with the tinnitus finding based on in-service noise exposure. The left shoulder disability has also been granted a 30 percent evaluation.,No specific evidence of exposure to burn pits, Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune, radiation, or Gulf War was provided.

The Veteran withdrew his claim for service connection for right ear hearing loss.

The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD has been dismissed.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral flat foot, fallen arches is dismissed due to the concurrent review request filed on May 19, 2022.,The Veteran's claims for service connection for a bilateral hip disability and a bilateral knee disability have been denied as there is no credible evidence of current disabilities.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for a lumbar spine disability has been denied due to the lack of competent medical evidence of a current disability.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea has been denied based on insufficient evidence.,The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss has been dismissed as there is no new and relevant evidence submitted after the initial decision.

The Board has remanded the case due to a duty-to-assist error in obtaining an adequate opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to his noise exposure during his active service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to incomplete and inadequate VA examination opinions, requiring a new examination to determine if any hearing loss disability is related to service or any event, injury, disease, or exposure during service.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss was denied as his hearing acuity did not meet the criteria for any higher rating.

The Veteran's appeal of his claims for service connection for various conditions was dismissed because the Notice of Disagreement (NOD) was filed more than a year after the most recent decision denying those claims.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, left knee strain, and right knee strain due to inadequate medical opinions in the September 2021 DBQ.

The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of service-connected hypertension was denied as the evidence did not show that his blood pressure readings met the criteria for a higher rating.,The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of service-connected monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) was denied as there is no evidence to show that his condition has manifested as symptomatic multiple myeloma.,The Veteran's claim for an increased rating of service-connected bilateral hearing loss was denied as the audiometric results did not meet the criteria for a compensable disability rating.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's right ear hearing loss is related to service and grants entitlement to service connection for this condition.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to a lack of consideration of new evidence submitted by the Veteran after the AOJ decision. The VA examiner's opinion is inadequate as it did not consider delayed onset hearing loss or other potential etiologies.