The Veteran's headaches are granted service connection and rated as 10% disabling.,The Veteran's tinnitus is denied a rating in excess of 10 percent on an extraschedular basis.,The effective date for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus is set at November 26, 2014.,The effective date for tinnitus is also set at November 26, 2014.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's headaches began during service and are not attributable to any other condition. The Board finds the evidence in equipoise and grants service connection.,The Veteran's tinnitus does not meet the criteria for an extraschedular rating as it is considered part of the regular schedular evaluation.,The effective date for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus was set at November 26, 2014 because this is when the claim to reopen was received by VA.,The effective date for tinnitus was also set at November 26, 2014 as it occurred on or after the receipt of the claim to reopen.
- Claimed conditions
- headaches, tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 10%
- Decision date
- January 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19104846
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,836 · Granted: 31% (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 19104846.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection of bilateral hearing loss and a ruptured right ear drum was dismissed due to the death of the Veteran.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board found that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was noted upon entry into active duty service and did not increase in severity during service. Therefore, it denied his claim for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
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