The Board denied the claim of clear and unmistakable error (CUE) in a February 2000 rating decision that granted service connection for tinnitus and assigned an initial 10 percent evaluation.
The deciding factor: The Court's decision in Smith v. Nicholson, which held that pre-1999 and pre-June 13, 2003 versions of Diagnostic Code 6260 required a single 10-percent rating for tinnitus, regardless of whether it was perceived as unilateral or bilateral, contradicted VA's longstanding interpretation.
- Claimed conditions
- Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- August 31, 2006
- Citation
- 0627565
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 0627565.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an effective date of May 17, 2019, for a 70 percent disability rating for PTSD but denied earlier effective dates for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeals for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus due to a lack of jurisdiction.
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