The Board found that the veteran's current right ear tinnitus with loss of balance was not incurred in or aggravated by service, and denied his claim for service connection.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that the veteran's current symptoms were more likely related to a blast injury during service rather than an in-service diagnosis of otitis externa. The examiner also noted that there is no evidence of overseas service in Vietnam as reported by the veteran, making his claim for service connection based on acoustic trauma less credible.
- Claimed conditions
- right ear tinnitus, loss of balance
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 25, 2006
- Citation
- 0611870
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,582 · Granted: 32% (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 0611870.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's COPD is granted as service connected. The claims for bilateral hearing loss and loss of balance are remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error, as there is insufficient evidence to determine if the Veteran's inner ear symptoms are related to service or any other condition.
- Dismissed
The Board has dismissed the appeals for greater evaluations of service-connected left ear hearing loss, right ear tinnitus, and sinus condition. The appeal regarding a proposed reduction in the evaluation of service-connected rectal cancer from 100% to 60% is also dismissed.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal concerning service connection for benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, loss of balance, and left ear trauma has been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
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