Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2009

The Board found that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus were not incurred as a result of any established event, injury, or disease during active service. The claims for entitlement to service connection are denied.

The Board has determined that the Veteran does not meet the criteria for service connection for any of the conditions listed in his claims. The VA made all reasonable efforts to assist him, but he failed to report for scheduled examinations and missed a hearing.

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

The Board finds that the Veteran's tinnitus is related to active military service and grants service connection for this condition.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for a VA examination and additional development of evidence.

The Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus, hearing loss, head pain, and breathing problem/pain in chest, to include as due to Gulf War hazard exposure were denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not have a current disability related to her claimed conditions.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the previously denied claim for service connection for an ear disability, including residuals of a mine explosion. The Veteran's tinnitus is also granted as service connected, and his bilateral hearing loss is also granted as service connected.

The Board has determined that the submitted evidence does not meet the criteria for reopening any of the Veteran's service connection claims, as it is either insufficient to establish new and material evidence or does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of entitlement to an initial evaluation in excess of 40 percent for his low back disability, service connection for bilateral hearing loss, and service connection for tinnitus. The appeal concerning the higher evaluation claim was withdrawn by the Veteran.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not incurred in or aggravated by his military service, and may not be presumed to have been incurred in service. The claims are therefore denied.

The Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for service connection have been dismissed due to the death of the appellant.

The Veteran's tinnitus and right ear hearing loss are rated at the maximum allowed under VA regulations. The Board found no legal basis for a higher rating, as there is no provision for separate ratings for bilateral tinnitus or for assigning a separate 10% rating for each ear of tinnitus. For his right ear hearing loss, the Veteran's non-compensable rating was upheld as he did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating based on the numeric designation assigned to his audiometric test results.

The Veteran's claims for lumbar degenerative disc disease, neck pain, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus were denied. Service connection was granted for a distorted left great toenail with an initial evaluation of 0 percent effective January 2006.

The Board found that there is no evidence of tinnitus in service and the Veteran did not experience hearing loss while in service. The VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's tinnitus was less likely related to his service, as it is not consistent with noise exposure and the separation examination showed a normal whisper test. Therefore, the claim for service connection for tinnitus was denied.

The Board found that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus did not have onset during service, were not otherwise linked to his military service, and denied service connection for both conditions.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that these conditions did not originate during his military service.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that there was no evidence to support these conditions.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining an opinion on the cumulative effect of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities on his employability.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were denied as there was no medical evidence linking the current disabilities to his military service.

The Veteran's service-connected conditions do not render him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation.