93 Decision Citation: BVA 93-18622 Y93 BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420 DOCKET NO. 92-16 524 ) DATE ) ) ) THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Appellant ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD N. L. Rippel, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from October 1942 to August 1945. This case came before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a January 1992 rating decision by the St. Louis, Missouri, Regional Office (RO). The notice of disagreement was received in February 1992. The statement of the case was furnished in March 1992. The substantive appeal was received in April 1992. The veteran offered personal testimony at a hearing held at the RO in June 1992, and the hearing officer issued a decision later that month. A supplemental statement of the case was issued in June 1992. The case was received and docketed at the Board in September 1992, at which time it was referred to the veteran's representative, Disabled American Veterans, who submitted written argument in February 1993. The case is now ready for appellate consideration. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL Essentially, the veteran contends that his tinnitus resulted either from inservice exposure to acoustic trauma in the form of munitions explosions, or from a head injury resulting from enemy fire. He argues that service connection should therefore be granted for tinnitus. DECISION OF THE BOARD In accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), following review and consideration of all evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file, and for the following reasons and bases, it is the decision of the Board that the evidence is in equipoise. Resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the veteran, service connection for tinnitus is granted. FINDING OF FACT Tinnitus cannot reasonably be disassociated from the veteran's service-connected sensorineural hearing loss in the right ear. CONCLUSION OF LAW Tinnitus is proximately due to or the result of service-connected sensorineural hearing loss in the right ear. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.310(a), 3.102 (1992). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The veteran's claim is well grounded within the meaning of 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107 in that he has presented a claim which is plausible. All relevant facts have been properly developed, and no further assistance to the veteran is required to comply with the duty to assist mandated by 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107. The veteran primarily asserts that entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is warranted as the disorder is related to inservice acoustic trauma. Service connection may be allowed for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C.A. § 1110. Regulations also provide that service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). In addition, service connection may be granted for disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service- connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a). We begin by noting that the veteran has been service-connected since August 1945 for defective hearing in the right ear and for gunsot wound scars incurred in combat. Service medical records are negative for complaints or findings of tinnitus. Tinnitus was first clinically noted in a May 1989 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) audiological examination. During that examination, the veteran noted that he had suffered with tinnitus intermittently for years, but that it was not bothering him that day. Several prior audiological examinations do not contain complaints or findings of tinnitus. However, a November 1986 memorandum from the veteran's representative stated that the veteran was suffering from tinnitus. This was not confirmed on the next VA audiological examination in November 1987 that revealed bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. VA audiological examination in April 1991 revealed that sensorineural hearing loss was probably secondary to noise exposure or presbycusis. At his June 1992 RO hearing, the veteran reported that tinnitus had essentially been present since service, and that he believed that it resulted from excessive exposure to gunfire or from the head injury he received from shrapnel fire. We acknowledge that persistent tinnitus may be a symptom of head injury, concussion or acoustic trauma. 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, Diagnostic Code 6260 (1992). The veteran is service-connected for defective hearing resulting from acoustic trauma and facial scarring that resulted from enemy artillery fire. Therefore, we find that his complaints of tinnitus cannot reasonably be disassociated from service. Although there were many occasions for the veteran to mention tinnitus over the years, we do not find that his silence precludes a finding in this instance that tinnitus is proximately related to either acoustic trauma or head injury incurred in service. We find that the evidence is in equipoise. When, after careful consideration of all procurable and assembled data, a reasonable doubt arises regarding service origin, the degree of disability, or any other point, such doubt will be resolved in favor of the claimant. 38 C.F.R. § 3.102 (1992). Accordingly, service connection is warranted for tinnitus. ORDER Service connection for tinnitus is granted. BOARD OF VETERANS' APPEALS WASHINGTON, D.C. 20420 M. SABULSKY HARRY M. McALLISTER, M.D. _________________________ J. U. JOHNSON NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (1992), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue which was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988 (see § 402 of the Veterans' Judicial Review Act (Pub. L. 100-687)). The date which appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision which you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.