The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not incurred in or aggravated by active service, nor may they be presumed to have been so incurred or aggravated.
The deciding factor: The evidence did not show a link between the Veteran's current hearing loss and tinnitus and his military service, including exposure to acoustic trauma. The Board found that the Veteran had no complaints of hearing loss during service and that any such hearing loss was first noted years after separation from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss Disability, Bilateral Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 12, 2009
- Citation
- 0917804
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 0917804.
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 Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability and tinnitus, finding that these conditions are related to his in-service noise exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for bilateral tinnitus was granted with a 10% disability rating effective October 30, 2020. The Board found that the earliest date of application for this claim is November 25, 2019.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and bilateral tinnitus disabilities, finding that these conditions are related to in-service noise exposure.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an increased rating for bilateral tinnitus is dismissed as he has withdrawn his appeal.,The Veteran's claim for a compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss prior to May 3, 2006, is denied.,The Veteran's claim for a disability rating of 10 percent, but no higher, for bilateral hearing loss from May 3, 2006, to November 2, 2023, is granted.,The Veteran's claim for a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss from November 3, 2023, and continuing, is denied.,The Veteran's claim for Total Disability Rating Based on Unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities is granted.
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