Hearing loss Board decisions

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for left ear hearing loss and service connection for right ear hearing loss, finding no evidence of a compensable disability or exposure to noise that would support these claims.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and found that it was incurred during active service due to noise exposure. The claim is therefore granted.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a medical opinion regarding whether any of the veteran's service-connected disabilities, or the medication used to treat these disabilities, caused or contributed to his death from vascular thrombosis.

The RO granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss but assigned a noncompensable rating. The appeal is being remanded due to the need to obtain VA medical records from San Juan VAMC.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current hearing loss and his military service.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss with a 10 percent rating, effective November 9, 1999. The claim of entitlement to service connection for back disability was reopened and the issue is remanded for further development. Service connection for bilateral eye disability was denied on the merits.

The Board has assigned a 70 percent rating for PTSD effective from January 1, 2005. The veteran's claim for a compensable evaluation for bilateral high frequency hearing loss is remanded to the RO.

The veteran's bilateral hearing loss has been rated at 10 percent since November 4, 2004. The Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted for the period from May 27, 1998 to November 3, 2004 and does not find any basis for granting a rating in excess of 10 percent since November 4, 2004.

The Board denied the veteran's claim of service connection for a hearing loss disability of the left ear, finding that there was no competent medical evidence linking his current disability to his military service.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including left long thoracic nerve neurapraxia, low back disorder, neurological condition with headaches, dizziness and light-headedness, shortening of the left lower extremity, first degree AV block, respiratory disorder, hearing loss, skin condition of the hands and feet (claimed as a foot disorder due to frostbite), facial lacerations, nasal fracture, teeth numbers 8 and 9 for VA dental treatment, and jaw disability. The claims were found not to have been incurred in service.

The Board has granted a 60 percent disability rating for the service-connected hearing loss of the right ear, effective from August 9, 2004. The veteran's chronic headache disability claim is being remanded.

The veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the need for a VA examination to determine if these conditions are related to his military service.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain additional medical records and for a VA examination. The issues of service connection for various disabilities are under review.

The Board has determined that the veteran's initial zero percent (noncompensable) rating for bilateral hearing loss is proper, and that a compensable evaluation has not been met at any time since March 7, 2002.

The veteran's claim for increased ratings for PTSD and bilateral hearing loss was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for either condition.

The Board is remanding the case to the agency of original jurisdiction due to procedural defects in the VCAA notification provided by the RO. The veteran and his representative need to be informed about the evidentiary requirements necessary to satisfy claims to reopen.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for a compensable initial rating for bilateral hearing loss and an increased initial rating for tinnitus. The February 1992 rating decision denying service connection was found to be not clearly and unmistakably erroneous.

The Board has determined that the veteran's hearing loss and Hepatitis C were not incurred or aggravated by service, and thus denied both claims.

The Board denied an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss and service connection for a low back disability. The veteran's bilateral hearing loss is currently rated at 30 percent, but the claim for higher ratings was denied. For his low back disability, the Board found no evidence to support its occurrence during military service.