Hearing loss Board decisions

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the veteran's claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The medical opinion provided in April 2004 supports a possible nexus between the veteran's current bilateral hearing loss and his service, including an explosion during combat.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for higher initial evaluations and increased ratings for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and degenerative arthritis of the left knee, finding that the evidence did not warrant a rating in excess of the current evaluations.

The Board finds that the veteran has a current diagnosis of generalized anxiety disorder related to his active duty service and grants service connection for this condition.

The VA determined that the veteran does not have a current disability of bilateral hearing loss, and thus denied his claim for service connection.

The Board found no evidence of a medical nexus between the veteran's hearing loss and his service, thus denying the claim for service connection.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating higher than 10 percent for trochanteric bursitis of the left hip, finding no evidence to establish current hearing loss or a disability that meets VA criteria. The veteran is also not entitled to a higher initial rating for her left hip condition.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between these conditions and his military service.

The veteran's claim of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus has been reopened, but further development is needed to determine the merits of these claims.

The Board denied service connection for bipolar disorder and hearing loss. The claim of reopening the bipolar disorder was also denied.

The Board has remanded the case due to issues related to the veteran's hearing loss and his ability to use hearing aids, as well as additional evidence that needs to be obtained.

The veteran's claim for an increased evaluation for his bilateral hearing loss disability is being remanded due to the need for a new VA audiological examination and additional medical records.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus, hearing loss disability, and a back disorder. The evidence did not establish new and material evidence for reopening any of these claims.

The Board has determined that the veteran's right ear hearing loss does not warrant a compensable disability rating, as his audiometric test results correspond to a numeric designation no worse than Level IV.

The Board dismissed the claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus as there was no legal basis to grant such a request.

The reduction in the evaluation for bilateral hearing loss from 30 percent to 20 percent was proper as it resulted in no reduction in overall compensation payments and the examination disclosed improvement.

The veteran's PTSD is found to be related to in-service stressors, and he is granted service connection.,Service connection for right ear hearing loss disability is granted as it is due to noise exposure during active duty.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing or following a substantially gainful occupation.

The veteran has withdrawn his appeal, and the Board is dismissing the issues due to this withdrawal.

The Board found that the veteran does not have a low back disability and denied his claim for an initial compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss. The veteran's hearing loss has been rated as noncompensably disabling (zero percent) since March 7, 2002.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining service personnel records and scheduling a VA examination to determine if hearing loss and tinnitus are related to service. The veteran's statements about an ear injury during service will be considered in forming the opinion.