Vertigo & vestibular disorders decisions — 2024

The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for additional evidence and examination regarding his vestibular schwannoma, including treatment records from private providers through VA community care programs and a VA examination.

Your claim for service connection for vertigo has been granted, but the appeal is dismissed as moot since your condition was already covered by a previous decision.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for TDIU, finding that his service-connected disabilities do not preclude him from securing and following a substantially gainful occupation.

The Veteran's claim for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability and special monthly compensation at the housebound rate was previously granted in August 2023, covering the entire period of appeal. The case is now dismissed as there are no longer any unresolved issues.

The Veteran's vertigo, characterized by dizziness and occasional staggering, is granted an initial 30 percent rating.

The Board denied the Veteran's request for an earlier effective date for service connection of BPPV with cholesteatoma and otosclerosis, finding that the earliest communication received from the Veteran following issuance of a final May 2017 rating decision was on January 31, 2022. The Board concluded that this is when entitlement to service connection could be granted for right ear conditions other than hearing loss.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection of a peripheral vestibular disorder, finding no evidence linking his current condition to his in-service treatment and noting that the Veteran did not have the training or credentials to provide a competent opinion regarding etiology.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for implantable cardiac pacemaker and persistent syncope with vertigo were denied as the evidence did not support a rating in excess of 30 percent.

The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss was denied, but he received a separate 10 percent rating for his associated vertigo as of February 24, 2020.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's Meniere's disease is at least as likely as not related to his active service, including exposure to traumatic military noise. Therefore, service connection for Meniere's disease is granted.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for tremors, other specified trauma and stressor related disorder, and Meniere's syndrome are remanded due to the need for a VA examination.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for vertigo as there was no new and relevant evidence submitted after the November 2018 rating decision.

The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for Meniere's syndrome from July 14, 2009 to November 17, 2020 was denied. The claim for a 100 percent rating for PTSD with TBI beginning March 5, 2018 was granted.

The Board has remanded the claims for left hip disability, right hip disability, vertigo/dizziness, and headaches due to additional evidence being added to the record after the November 2023 Supplemental Statement of the Case.

The Veteran withdrew his appeals for bilateral hearing loss, migraines/headaches, neck/cervical pain, sleep apnea, vertigo, and urethritis. The remaining issues of service connection are being remanded.

The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date prior to January 18, 2016, for a 100 percent evaluation of Meniere's syndrome with hearing loss, vertigo and tinnitus was denied as the medical evidence showed an increase in symptoms starting from January 18, 2016.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's currently diagnosed vestibular instability is related to in-service blast exposures and grants service connection for this condition.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension has been granted. The Board found that the current diagnosis of hypertension, combined with exposure to herbicide agents and a causal relationship established by the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) report, meets the criteria for service connection.,Service connection for vertigo disorder was denied as it is not proximately due or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury. The VA examiner's opinion concluded that the Veteran's vertigo is more likely related to benign paroxysmal positional vertigo rather than his migraines.

The Veteran's vertigo is currently rated at 10 percent, and the Board found that there was not enough evidence of occasional staggering to warrant a higher rating.