Citation Nr: 18145505
Decision Date: 10/29/18	Archive Date: 10/29/18

DOCKET NO. 16-36 852
DATE:	October 29, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The preponderance of the evidence of record reflects that the Veteran’s tinnitus was incurred in service.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for tinnitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309 (2017).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from September 2004 to September 2008.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Service connection for tinnitus is granted
Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C §§ 1110, 1131 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (2017). If there is no showing of a resulting chronic condition during service, then a showing of continuity of symptomatology after service is required to support a finding of chronicity for certain diseases. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(a), (b), 3.309(a) (2017); Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Service connection may also 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) (2017).
Generally, to prove service connection, there must be competent, credible evidence of (1) a current disability, (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of an injury or disease, and (3) a nexus, or link, between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury.  38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (2017); Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999); Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313, 1316 (Fed. Cir. 2009).  
If a veteran serves 90 days or more of active, continuous service after December 31, 1946, and manifests certain chronic diseases - including tinnitus - to a degree of 10 percent or more during the one-year period following his separation from that service, service connection for the condition may be established on a presumptive basis, notwithstanding that there is no in-service record of the disorder. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1112, 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309 (2017).
When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, the Secretary shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990).
The Veteran is competent to self-diagnose tinnitus.  Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370 (2002).  He contends that has tinnitus began in service, in 2009.  The Board finds that his statements that his tinnitus had its onset in service are credible.
The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in January 2014. The examiner provided a negative nexus opinion and explained that the Veteran marked “No” on his post-deployment examination separation examination. Additionally, in-service noise exposure as a delayed onset of noise-induced tinnitus is unlikely, and it is more likely his tinnitus is due to other factors such as smoking, arthritis, taking aspirin, alcohol consumption, higher serum cholesterol, taking certain prescriptive medications, and depression.   
The Veteran has been consistent that his tinnitus began while in service. In his notice of disagreement (NOD), dated in August 2014, he stated that he was exposed to many high and low-frequency sounds, as well as loud and continuous sounds, without “sufficient amount of ear protection” while on serving aboard his ship, which led to the ringing in his ears. In correspondence dated October 2014, he reiterated that he started to experience ringing in his ears, sometimes daily, during service. Similarly, in an August 2016 correspondence, he states that at his post-deployment physical he was told to deny any illnesses for fear of postponing his paperwork. Also, any admission of ailments in service, including tinnitus, was deemed a “sign of weakness.” 
After a thorough review of the probative evidence of record, including the Veteran’s DD Form 214 reflecting his primary specialty as underwater warfare control operator, the Board finds that service connection is warranted for the Veteran’s tinnitus. The Board finds the January 2014 VA audiological examiner’s findings unpersuasive and assigns little probative value to the negative nexus opinion. Jones v. Shinseki, 23 Vet. App. 382, 389-90 (2010). 
The nexus requirement of a service connection claim may be satisfied by evidence that a chronic disease manifested to a compensable degree within a year of service. Tinnitus is considered an “organic disease of the nervous system” and as such, considered a chronic disease. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (a) (2017); Fountain v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 258, 275-75 (2015). Therefore, the theory of the continuity of symptomology is applicable. Walker, 708 F.3d 1331. 
The Veteran has competently and credibly stated that his tinnitus began in service and had persisted since. The Board affords the Veteran’s lay statements the most probative weight in a finding that his tinnitus started in service. Service connection for tinnitus is, therefore, granted. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a), (b) (2017).

 
D. Martz Ames
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	N. Stevens, Associate Counsel