Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2006

The appellant has withdrawn his appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus. The case is dismissed.

The Board denied service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus as the evidence did not establish current disability or a relationship to military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss, COPD, and PTSD. The VA examiner found that current conditions were not attributable to service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) with cholecystectomy, and allergic rhinitis. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were related to military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for his bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence of an increase in disability within a year prior to April 19, 2004.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been received to reopen the claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, hiatus hernia with reflux and vascular calcification of abdomen, urethritis, squamous papilloma (claimed as nose cancer), headaches, hemorrhoids, ankle and leg weakness, neck pain, hypertension, heart disability, diabetes mellitus, and multiple cancers. However, the claims are not granted due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to service or any incident thereof.

The Board has determined that the veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus are not related to his active duty service, and thus denied both claims.

The Board found no competent medical evidence of current bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus, and thus denied the appellant's claims for service connection.

The Board has determined that there is no evidence of in-service acoustic trauma or other incident that could have caused the veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus. As a result, service connection for these conditions cannot be granted.

The Board has determined that the veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his active military service, granting service connection for these conditions.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a current disability of defective hearing, tinnitus, or PTSD related to service. The evidence does not support a finding of in-service stressors sufficient to meet the criteria for diagnosing PTSD.

The veteran's appeal has been dismissed due to his death, and the Board has no jurisdiction to adjudicate the merits of these claims.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a hearing loss disability for VA purposes and there is no evidence of tinnitus due to service. Therefore, both claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are denied.

The veteran's tinnitus was found to have begun during service and is granted. The veteran's degenerative joint disease of L2-L3 and L5-S1 is granted with a current evaluation of 10 percent.

The Board has determined that the effective date for the grant of TDIU should be May 1, 2002, as it is factually ascertainable that the veteran was unable to work due to his service-connected disabilities on that date.

The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for hearing loss and granted it. The effective date of this grant is May 19, 2003. Service connection for tinnitus was denied as there was no evidence showing that the condition developed during or within one year after service. The veteran's current hearing loss disability is not related to his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection of hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that no CUE was present in the July 1953 rating decision and that an earlier effective date is not legally possible.

The Board has determined that the veteran's Meniere's disease, left ear hearing loss, and tinnitus were aggravated by military service.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of service connection for tinnitus and granted it, finding that new evidence supports a link between the condition and in-service exposure to gunfire.

The Board denied service connection for tinnitus and tremor, and the issue of increased evaluation for low back disability remains unresolved.