Citation Nr: 21010834 Decision Date: 02/25/21 Archive Date: 02/25/21 DOCKET NO. 17-10 696 DATE: February 25, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted. FINDING OF FACT The most probative evidence is at least in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s tinnitus had its onset during or is causally related to military service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from June 1969 to January 1972, including in the Republic of Vietnam. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Veteran testified during a Board hearing in September 2019. A transcript of the hearing is associated with the claims file. The Veterans Law Judge who presided over that hearing is no longer employed by the Board. Ordinarily, the Veteran would be afforded an opportunity to attend another Board hearing before a different Veterans Law Judge. However, in this case, the Board has reviewed the record and determined that the appeal may be granted to the maximum extent allowed by law. As such, there is no need for another hearing. In December 2019, the Board denied claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision on service connection for tinnitus to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In September 2020, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand. The matter has now returned to the Board for adjudication. Legal Criteria – Service Connection Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred coincident with or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing direct service connection generally requires competent evidence of: (1) 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. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). 1. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus The Board finds that the most probative evidence is at least in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s tinnitus had its onset during or is otherwise etiologically related to military service. Therefore, a grant of service connection is warranted. The Veteran has reported experiencing tinnitus, which is sufficient to establish the presence of the condition. See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370, 374 (2002). His DD Form 214 shows a military occupational specialty of helicopter repairman, a position with a significant probability of hazardous noise exposure. He has asserted that his tinnitus began during military service and continued to the present. The Veteran submitted a medical opinion from B.N., a private audiologist, dated October 2015. B.N. reviewed the Veteran’s medical history, conducted relevant diagnostic testing, and stated that “it is my opinion that some degree of his high frequency hearing loss and tinnitus are related to his years of excessive noise exposure while in the US Army. It is impossible to determine the exact degree caused by the military, however. It is also likely that civilian noise exposure and early signs of presbycusis are contributing factors.” The Veteran also submitted a medical opinion from A.A., Au. D., dated November 2020. A.A. reviewed the medical history, and concluded that it is at least as likely as not that the onset of tinnitus resulted from unprotected noise exposure during active military service. The law is clear. Pursuant to the “benefit-of-the-doubt” rule, where there is “an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding the merits of an issue material to the determination of the matter,” the Veteran shall prevail upon the issue. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b). The Board finds that B.N. and A.A.’s medical opinions place the evidence at least into relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s tinnitus is related to military service. With the benefit of the doubt resolved in the Veteran’s favor, a grant of service connection is warranted. ANTHONY C. SCIRÉ, JR Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Reed, Associate 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.