Citation Nr: 21066995
Decision Date: 11/03/21	Archive Date: 11/03/21

DOCKET NO. 16-18 419
DATE: November 3, 2021

ORDER

Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

With resolution of the doubt in his favor, the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was incurred in service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria to establish service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been approximated. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107 (b) (West 2014); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.304, 3.307, 3.309, 3.385.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active service with the U.S. Navy from July 1959 to April 1965.

Service connection may be granted if it is shown the Veteran develops a disability resulting from an injury sustained or disease contracted in the line of duty, or for aggravation during service of a pre-existing condition beyond its natural progression. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1131, 1153; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.306. 

Service connection requires competent evidence showing: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service  the so-called "nexus" requirement. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004), citing Hansen v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 110 (2002). 

The Veteran has a hearing loss disability as defined by VA regulations. A December 2012 VA medical examination found that the Veteran's hearing loss was not caused by military service. The examination report also indicates contradictorily that the Veteran's tinnitus was "due to or a result of military service/the Veteran's military noise exposure," and in a separate section indicates that the Veteran's tinnitus "was not caused by or a result of military service."  

The examiner found that the Veteran had normal hearing in both ears at separation, except for a mild hearing loss in the right ear. However, the examiner also noted that the Veteran's tinnitus was a symptom associated with hearing loss. 

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The Veteran's tinnitus is service connected. The Board will resolve reasonable doubt in this case. Because the Veteran's tinnitus is service connected and has been noted by a medical examiner to be a symptom of hearing loss, a grant of service connection for the latter disorder is appropriate. 

 

 

Vito A. Clementi

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	S. Anwar, Attorney-Advisor

The Board's action is binding only in this case. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.