Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2009

The Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including a VA examination.

The Board found that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus are not related to his military service, as there was no evidence of hearing loss or tinnitus during service and any current conditions do not appear to be linked to service.

The Board denied service connection for tinnitus, low back disability, and allergic rhinitis. The Veteran's complaints of tinnitus were not documented in service records, and the current condition is not linked to active service. For the low back disability, there are service treatment records indicating pain but no diagnosis at that time. Current degenerative changes in the lumbar vertebra are associated with service. Allergic rhinitis was not addressed as a service-connected issue.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus was denied as there is no competent clinical evidence or opinion that his hearing loss and tinnitus are causally related to any incident, injury, disease or exposure of military service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, left ear, were not incurred in or aggravated by active service. The preponderance of evidence does not support a finding of service connection for these conditions.

The Veteran's tinnitus was not shown to be related to service, and the Board denied his claim for service connection.

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

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and recurrent tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are related to service, with the Board finding that they were incurred in service.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to inconsistencies in the evidence regarding exposure to acoustic trauma during service.

The Board denied service connection for right ear hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran did not have a current disability or evidence of an in-service injury. The Court remanded these issues due to procedural errors.

The Veteran's tinnitus was not incurred in or aggravated by service, and an organic disease of the nervous system may not be presumed to have been incurred therein.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that his pre-existing conditions did not worsen during military service.

The Board found no evidence to support the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, as both conditions were first diagnosed many years after his separation from active duty. The VA audiological evaluations did not link these disabilities to military noise exposure.

The Board found that the Veteran's hypertension was not caused or aggravated by his service-connected PTSD or diabetes mellitus, and denied the claim for service connection. The tinnitus claim is also denied.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for tinnitus, broken left eardrum, depression, and residuals of right shoulder and right arm injuries from shrapnel. The evidence did not support a direct link between these conditions and his military service.

The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, skin cancer (presumed due to herbicide exposure), and PTSD. The Veteran's current conditions are not related to his active service.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for further action, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his tinnitus.

The Veteran's death was not caused or contributed to by any service-connected disability, including his pleural effusion. The Board denied the DIC claim and the cause of death claim.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection have been denied. The Board found no evidence of very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks for the migraine headaches, which is required for a higher rating under Diagnostic Code 8100. For tinnitus, there is no provision for separate evaluations in each ear under DC 6260.