The Board has determined that the veteran is already receiving the maximum available rating for bilateral tinnitus under Diagnostic Code 6260, and therefore separate ratings for each ear are not warranted.
The deciding factor: The General Counsel's opinion found that the prior versions of Diagnostic Code 6260 compelled the same adjudicative result and that the June 2003 amendment brought about no substantive change of law. The disease entity of 'tinnitus' has but one symptom - the perception of sound in the brain without acoustic stimulus.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- January 11, 2005
- Citation
- 0500716
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,515 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0500716.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected acquired psychiatric disability, ischemic cardiomyopathy, and other disabilities have rendered him unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation since December 29, 2020. Effective from that date, the Veteran is granted TDIU and SMC housebound.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus, finding that his in-service exposure to hazardous noise caused his current condition.
- Granted
The Board has granted an earlier effective date of July 26, 2017 for the award of TDIU due to service-connected psychiatric disability and an earlier effective date of November 9, 2018 for the award of SMC under 38 U.S.C. § 1114(s).
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current diagnosis of bilateral tinnitus is related to service, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
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