The Board has found no evidence to support the Veteran's claims of service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, as there is no medical evidence linking these conditions to his military service. The Veteran's post-operative residuals of a bilateral epididymectomy have also not been rated higher than noncompensable.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran's hearing loss and tinnitus were not related to his military service, as there was no evidence of hearing problems during or shortly after service. The Board agreed with this assessment based on the lack of medical records linking these conditions to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Hearing Loss, Tinnitus
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 5, 2013
- Citation
- 1340101
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 1340101.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus, finding that the Veteran's current conditions are not related to his military service.
- Granted
The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is granted as service-connected. The claims for alcohol abuse and psychiatric disorder are remanded for additional development, including a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a need for a new VA examination to assess the current severity of the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss. The issue remains under direct service connection theory.
- Denied
The Veteran's hearing loss was rated at 30 percent, the highest non-compensable rating available. The Board found that his hearing loss did not warrant a higher rating based on VA examinations and medical records.
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