Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2019

The Board has denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but has remanded the claims of service connection for asthma due to contaminated water at Camp Lejeune, arthritis, and gastric condition (GERD).

The Veteran's death was not caused by a service-connected disability, and he did not serve during a qualifying war period for VA pension benefits.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions and evidence collection. The Board will consider each condition individually, including tinnitus, sulfa drug allergy, low back disorder, vertigo, narcolepsy, headache disorder (secondary to TBI), acquired psychiatric disorder (secondary to TBI), and IBS.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the conditions are related to active duty service.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, neck rash, and headaches. Tinnitus is linked to in-service acoustic trauma. Neck rash and headaches have been found with unknown etiology.

The Veteran's claims of service connection for right ear hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus, and skin disorder have been granted. The rating assigned is 30% for insomnia.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are granted as service-connected. The Veteran's PTSD is not rated higher than 30 percent.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus is granted. The claim for increased rating of left knee disability prior to January 19, 2012 is denied. The claim for increased rating of left knee disability since January 19, 2012 is also denied. The claims for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability and TDIU are remanded.

The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, low back disability, and pes planus. The Veteran's claims were based on in-service noise exposure.,Service connection was not granted as the evidence did not show a current disability of bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus that is related to service.

The Veteran's tinnitus is found to have started during his active duty service and has continued since then, meeting the criteria for service connection.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were denied as not related to service, with the Board finding that there was no evidence of noise exposure causing these conditions.,PTSD was also denied due to insufficient evidence linking it to service.

The Veteran's appeal for a rating in excess of 10 percent for tinnitus was denied. The Board also remanded the claims for service connection for non-epileptic seizure associated with residuals of traumatic brain injury (TBI), residuals of TBI, tension headaches, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with depressive disorder not otherwise specified and alcohol abuse, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).

The Veteran's tinnitus is rated at the minimum schedular evaluation of 10 percent, and an extraschedular rating has been denied.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that her audiometric test results did not meet the requirements for current hearing loss under VA regulations. The Board also found that there was no nexus between her tinnitus and in-service noise exposure.

The Board has determined that additional VA examination is needed to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus, as the current evidence does not provide a clear opinion on these conditions.

The Board has determined that additional VA examination is needed to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus, as the current evidence does not provide a clear opinion on these conditions.

The Veteran's PTSD is rated at 50% and the claim for an increased rating is denied. The Veteran does not meet the criteria for a TDIU based on his service-connected disabilities.

The Board has granted earlier effective dates of August 10, 2015 for the grants of service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and PTSD. The Veteran's diabetes mellitus was also granted an effective date of January 7, 2016.

The Veteran's claim for an effective date earlier than September 17, 2014 for the grant of service connection for tinnitus was denied. The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is rated as Level II in the right ear and Level I in the left ear, which does not meet the criteria for a compensable rating.

The Board denied the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus because new evidence did not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate his claim, specifically a causal link between active service and his current disabilities.