Tinnitus (ringing in the ears) decisions — 2021

The Board has remanded the case due to an error in denying service connection for tinnitus, and a VA medical opinion is needed to address whether the Veteran's tinnitus is secondary to his service-connected right shoulder condition.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, but has remanded the issue of an initial disability rating in excess of 30 percent for interstitial lung disease, asbestosis.

The Board denied the claim of entitlement to DIC based on service connection for cause of death, finding that neither service-connected PTSD nor any other service-connected disorder was a principal or contributory cause of the Veteran's death.

The Board has granted service connection for diabetes mellitus, type II, due to herbicide exposure in Thailand. Service connection was denied for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus as these conditions are not related to military service.

The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's symptoms began during service and have been continuous since. The decision is based on the presumption of chronicity due to exposure to loud noise (acoustic trauma) in service.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims of entitlement to an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities. The Veteran is required to provide information about his employment history, including names, addresses, and contact information of former employers, as well as any accommodations provided by his employer(s) related to his service-connected conditions.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the remaining issues due to new evidence and need for additional examinations.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to exposure to herbicide agents, including for coronary artery disease, type 2 diabetes mellitus, erectile dysfunction secondary to those conditions, and tinnitus. The claims are being remanded for further development, including verification of the Veteran's alleged service in Vietnam and proximity to the base perimeter.

The Board has remanded the claims for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus due to incomplete verification of periods of active duty training (ACDUTRA) and inactive duty training (INACDUTRA). The Veteran's service connection claims are also remanded for a supplemental medical opinion from an appropriate clinician.

Service connection for tinnitus is granted. The issues of service connection for a prostate condition and degenerative disc disease of the cervical spine are remanded.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus, finding that his current diagnosis of tinnitus did not meet the criteria for service connection as there was no evidence linking it to his military service.

The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, alone, were not of sufficient severity to render him unable to secure and maintain substantially gainful employment prior to February 21, 2014.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus and right ankle disability have been granted. The heart disability claim has been denied as the evidence does not show more than one episode of congestive heart failure in the past year, a workload of greater than 3 METs but not greater than 5 METs resulting in dyspnea, fatigue, angina, dizziness or syncope, or left ventricular dysfunction with an ejection fraction of 30 to 50 percent. The diabetes claim has been denied as the evidence does not show that his diabetes required insulin and a restricted diet or hypoglycemic agents and restricted diet.

The Veteran's prostate cancer is granted as secondary to herbicide exposure, and his bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus are both granted.,Prostate cancer is presumed service-connected due to herbicide exposure. Bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are also granted based on in-service noise exposure.

The Veteran is granted service connection for tinnitus, but denied service connection for a prostate disorder and TMJ.,Service connection was not granted for the Veteran's prostate disorder as there was no evidence of in-service injury or disease. The Board found that the current diagnosis of an enlarged prostate began post-service.

The Veteran's appeals for increased ratings and earlier effective dates for tinnitus have been withdrawn.,Claims of service connection for right knee arthritis, left knee arthritis, bilateral hearing loss disability, diabetes mellitus, psychiatric disorder (to include depression), right foot pes planus and plantar fasciitis, left foot pes planus and plantar fasciitis, and bilateral eye disability (exotropia) have been dismissed due to lack of timely appeal.

The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were granted service connection as they are considered to be directly related to his active duty service.

The Veteran's service-connected conditions, including obstructive sleep apnea, generalized anxiety disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted the TDIU claim based on these disabilities.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for revision of the April 2003 rating decision denying service connection for hearing loss and tinnitus, as well as his claim for SMC. The effective date claims are inextricably intertwined with these issues.

The Board has granted an effective date of February 27, 2015 for the grant of service connection for tinnitus. The Veteran's claims for other disabilities are remanded due to incomplete records and need for a new VA examination.