Hearing loss Board decisions

The Board has granted service connection for right ear hearing loss and determined that the veteran's current bilateral knee disability is not related to his military service.

The Board has granted the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there is a reasonable possibility of their occurrence due to noise exposure in service.

The VA denied an initial compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss, finding that the veteran's hearing impairment did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under the applicable VA rating schedule.

The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to fully and fairly consider the veteran's claims, including records from his National Guard service and VA examination reports.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of a stroke and found no new and material evidence had been presented to reopen his hearing loss claim. The decision is final.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and residuals of a head injury as there is no evidence to support these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.

The veteran's service-connected hearing loss has been rated as noncompensable since September 21, 2002. The RO granted service connection for bilateral conductive hearing loss from April 18, 2005, but the disability remains noncompensable.

The Board denied the veteran's claims of service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that new and material evidence had not been presented to reopen the previously denied claims.

The veteran's claims for increased ratings for his left ear hearing loss and bilateral hearing loss were denied as the schedular criteria are not met for a compensable rating in either case.

The veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected knee and back disabilities have been denied as the evidence does not support a finding that they are more than slight or mild in nature.

The Board found that the veteran's left ear hearing loss did not worsen during his military service and was not incurred therein, thus denying his claim for service connection.

The veteran's service-connected psychiatric disability, which is determined to be of a direct nature and not related to any specific exposure basis or presumption, has been granted an increased rating to 70 percent.

The veteran's claim for an initial evaluation greater than 60 percent for bilateral hearing loss was denied by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.

The veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus and initial evaluations for bilateral hearing loss disability were denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of in-service noise exposure related to current tinnitus, and there was no medical opinion linking his current hearing loss to service.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an earlier effective date prior to November 29, 2001 for a 10% rating for bilateral hearing loss.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence of in-service noise exposure or current disabilities. The VA audiology examination concluded that the veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus were not related to his active military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his time in service, and thus grants service connection for both conditions.

The Board has determined that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss does not meet the criteria for a compensable initial disability rating.

The Board has denied the claims for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus, as well as the initial evaluations in excess of 10 percent for PTSD and hepatitis C infection. The appellant's PTSD is currently rated at 30 percent, hepatitis C infection at 10 percent, and there are no current issues regarding service connection or evaluation.

The Board has reopened the claim of service connection for hearing loss of the right ear and remanded it for further development. The issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is also being remanded.