The Board has determined that the Veteran's current left ear tinnitus is related to in-service noise exposure and grants service connection for this condition. Service connection for left ear hearing loss was denied.
The deciding factor: The VA audiologist opined that it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran's current left ear tinnitus is due to military noise exposure, including aircraft noise during his active duty service in Iraq and a second period of active duty from August 2004 to February 2005.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, left ear tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 31, 2010
- Citation
- 1012088
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 1012088.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of left ear hearing loss due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error, as an addendum opinion is necessary to address evidence of in-service hearing loss and convert audiometric testing results from ASA to ISO-ANSI standards.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for left ear hearing loss to obtain an adequate VA opinion addressing the hearing loss demonstrated on the September 1968 and July 1974 examination, under both ASA and ISO-ANSI standards.
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