Citation Nr: 1328511 Decision Date: 09/06/13 Archive Date: 09/16/13 DOCKET NO. 12-13 381 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Sioux Falls, South Dakota THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for recurrent tinnitus. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Paralyzed Veterans of America, Inc. ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Kalisse Anderson, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active military service from November 1965 to March 1971 and May 1971 to February 1977. This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of an October 2011 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The Veteran testified before the VA Decision Review Officer (DRO) at a May 2012 hearing conducted at the RO. A transcript of this hearing is of record. FINDING OF FACT Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, he is diagnosed with recurrent tinnitus that it is etiologically related to his period of active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW Recurrent tinnitus was incurred in active service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 1131 (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (2012). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION Duties to Notify and Assist Since the entire benefit sought on appeal has been granted, no purpose would be served by undertaking an analysis of whether there has been compliance with the notice and duty to assist requirements set out at 38 U.S.C.A §§ 5100, 5102- 5103A, 5106, 5107, 5126 (West 2002). See, e.g., Bernard v. Brown, 4 Vet. App. 384 (1993); VAOPGCPREC 16-92, 57 Fed. Reg. 49, 747 (1992). Analysis The Veteran asserts he is entitled to service connection for recurrent tinnitus as directly related to his active service. Specifically, the Veteran asserts that he was exposed to acoustic trauma while working as an artillery technician in Bamberg, Germany. He asserts that he suffers from recurrent ringing in his ears ever since service. See, e.g. May 2012 DRO hearing transcript. Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from personal injury suffered or disease contracted in the line of duty in the active military, naval or air service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Evidence that an injury or disease occurred in service is not enough; there must be chronic disability resulting from that injury or disease. In order to prevail on the issue of service connection there must be competent evidence of a current disability; medical evidence, or in certain circumstances, lay evidence of an in-service occurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and competent evidence of a nexus between an in-service injury or disease and the current disability. See Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247 (1999); Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007); Buchanan v. Nicholson, 451 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2006). A review of the Veteran's service treatment records does not reveal complaints or a diagnosis of tinnitus. During the development of the Veteran's claim, he was provided a VA examination where the VA examiner diagnosed the Veteran with tinnitus. Following a review of the claims file, and an audiological examination of the Veteran, the VA examiner opined that the Veteran's recurrent tinnitus is less likely as not related to his active service. The examiner based this conclusion on the lack of evidence in Veteran's active and reserve service medical records of a diagnosis or complaint of tinnitus. In addition, he noted that by history the Veteran stated that tinnitus only began "a few years ago." As such, there is evidence of a current disability and the issue becomes whether the Veteran's tinnitus either began during or was otherwise caused by his military service. The Veteran testified at his DRO hearing in May 2012 that he had experienced ringing in his ears while on active duty and it has continued since that time. See May 2012 DRO hearing transcript at 3. The Veteran also states that the reason there is no diagnosis of tinnitus in any of his service or post-service medical reports is due to the fact that no one ever asked him if he had ringing in is ears. Id at 5. In the instant case, even though the VA examiner provided a negative nexus medical opinion, the Board notes that tinnitus is the type of disability associated with symptoms capable of lay observation. See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370 (2002). In certain cases, such as this one, his lay testimony is competent evidence showing a current diagnosis of tinnitus. The Veteran's hearing testimony as well as the Veteran's statement in support of his claim dated July 2012, absent contradictory evidence on record, is sufficient to establish an in-service diagnosis of tinnitus and to establish that the Veteran has had ringing in his ears since service and continuing through the present. In this respect, even though he reported a different date of onset of tinnitus during the VA examination, he provided a sufficient explanation as to why believes tinnitus has existed since exposure to acoustic trauma in service. The Board finds the Veteran's statements that he has suffered from tinnitus since service are credible and is led to conclude that the evidence of record is in relative equipoise, thus mandating that reasonable doubt be resolved in favor of the Veteran. As such, for the reasons discussed above and resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board concludes that service connection for recurrent tinnitus is warranted. ORDER Service connection for recurrent tinnitus is granted. ____________________________________________ MATTHEW D. TENNER Acting Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Department of Veterans Affairs