Citation Nr: 21063232
Decision Date: 10/13/21	Archive Date: 10/13/21

DOCKET NO. 16-52 299
DATE: October 13, 2021

ORDER

Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.

Service connection for tinnitus is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus is related to his active duty service. 

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131, 1137, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.3.09.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from September 1978 to September 1982. 

In June 2021, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans' Law Judge. A copy of the transcript is associated with the record.

Service Connection

Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Establishing service connection generally requires: (1) evidence of a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship (i.e., a nexus) between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability.

In deciding the Veteran's claim, VA is responsible for determining whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the Veteran prevailing in either event; or whether a preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case the claim is denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53-56 (1990). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination, the benefit of the doubt is afforded the claimant.

Hearing Loss

Tinnitus

In June 2021, the Veteran submitted a private medical report from an audiologist. The examiner indicated that he had reviewed the Veteran's service treatment records (STRs). The examiner also provided a VA examination form. After review of the Veteran's STRs and records, the examiner found that it was more likely than not that the Veteran's documented hearing loss and tinnitus were related to the Veteran's active duty service. 

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The record also contains a May 2015 VA examination which did not find that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were related to his active duty service. However, based on the June 2021 private opinion, the Board finds that the evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were related to his active duty service. Accordingly, resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran's favor, the Board finds that service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus is warranted. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102.

 

 

JOHN Z. JONES

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Parrish, Counsel

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.