The Veteran's tinnitus was granted service connection. The Board found the evidence insufficient to establish service connection for bilateral hearing loss and remanded the issue.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that the test results were not valid for rating purposes, explaining that the Veteran demonstrated indicators of nonorganic hearing loss including the ability to understand conversational speech during the in-person examination without the use of visual cues; speech reception thresholds (SRT) in poor agreement with the 3 frequency PTA; excellent word discrimination ability at 40dB over STR; flat audiometric configuration; positive Stenger test; significant unexplained change in thresholds since testing dated August 2020 and ARTs present at lower than expected levels based on pure tone audiometry.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 18, 2024
- Citation
- A24019656
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 A24019656.
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.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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