The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the claim for bilateral hearing loss due to an inadequate VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The March 2025 VA examination was found to be inadequate as it relied on a finding that there is not a diagnosis or treatment for tinnitus in the Veteran's service treatment records, which is not a valid basis for an examiner to rely upon. The Board granted service connection based on the Veteran's competent lay statements and conceded exposure to hazardous noise during service.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- December 2, 2025
- Citation
- A25103286
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