The veteran's request for a higher rating for his bilateral tinnitus, currently evaluated as 10 percent disabling, was denied because the maximum schedular evaluation of 10 percent is already assigned under Diagnostic Code (DC) 6260.
The deciding factor: There is no legal basis to assign a separate 10 percent evaluation for each ear due to the pre-1999 and pre-June 13, 2003 versions of DC 6260 requiring the assignment of dual ratings for bilateral tinnitus. The veteran's service-connected tinnitus has been assigned the maximum schedular rating available.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- August 4, 2006
- Citation
- 0623248
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 0623248.
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- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are causally related to his in-service hazardous noise exposure. The Board considered the Veteran's credible testimony regarding the onset of these conditions during service.
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