Vertigo & vestibular disorders decisions — 2018

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions and for extraschedular consideration of his hearing loss prior to June 5, 2010.

The Board denied the claim of entitlement to service connection for vertigo and nausea from an inner ear disorder in October 2007. The Veteran submitted new evidence since then, but it does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim.

The Board has determined that additional development is necessary before a decision can be made regarding the Veteran's claims for service connection. This includes verifying his periods of active duty and Air National Guard service, obtaining SSA records, securing VA treatment records, and arranging for medical opinions to determine the etiology of various conditions.

The Board has granted service connection for Meniere's syndrome and remanded the issue of a disability rating in excess of 10 percent for bilateral pes planus with plantar fasciitis.

The Veteran has withdrawn all the issues on appeal.

The Board has remanded the appeal to the RO for additional action, including obtaining relevant personnel records from the Veteran's employer regarding his posttraumatic headaches and their impact on his employment.

The Veteran's death was caused by a spontaneous rupture of an aortic aneurysm, which the Board finds is related to his service-connected disabilities. The Board grants service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death.

The Board has denied an increased rating for vasovagal syncope and remanded the issue of a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities (TDIU).

The Board found that the Veteran's left ear hearing loss and Meniere's disease are not related to his military service, as there was no evidence of such conditions during or within one year after discharge. The right ear hearing loss is currently manifested by a mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss.

The Veteran's death was not service-connected due to the lack of continuous total disability rating for at least ten years prior to his death. The Veteran had multiple disabilities, but they were rated as separate conditions and did not meet the criteria for a single condition that would qualify him for a 100% combined evaluation.

The Veteran's right ear sensorineural hearing loss and peripheral vestibular disorder, including probable labyrinthitis versus benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, have been reopened. The evidence now shows current disabilities as defined by VA regulatory criteria.