Citation Nr: 21014340 Decision Date: 03/11/21 Archive Date: 03/11/21 DOCKET NO. 17-47 519 DATE: March 11, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran’s tinnitus was incurred in or caused by service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served in the U.S. Air Force Reserve, with active duty for training (ACDUTRA) from July 2006 to September 2007 and January 2008 to April 2008 and several periods of inactive duty for training (INACDUTRA). This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from an August 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In November 2019, the Board issued a decision that denied entitlement to service connection for tinnitus, hemorrhoids, tinea pedis, and skin tags of the left eyelid and granted an initial rating of 10 percent for hypertension and service connection for a gynecological disorder and anemia. The Veteran appealed the denial of service connection for tinnitus to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). In an October 2020 Order, pursuant to a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR) filed by the parties, the Court vacated and remanded the November 2019 decision for compliance with the instructions in the JMPR. 1. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus Service connection may be established for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Generally, to prove service connection there must be: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Moreover, where a veteran has served continuously for 90 days or more during active service, and tinnitus becomes manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year from the date of termination of such service, such disease shall be presumed to have been incurred in service, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. This presumption is rebuttable by affirmative evidence to the contrary. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1112, 1113, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. The Veteran seeks service connection for tinnitus. In a January 2015 statement, the Veteran reported that she developed a constant ringing in her ears from working around loud and noisy flight lines and jet aircraft. The Veteran has not asserted, and the record does not suggest, that her tinnitus began during service. As an initial matter, the Board accepts that the Veteran currently experiences tinnitus, as she is competent to report the presence of ringing in her ears. See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370, 374 (2002) (“ringing in the ears is capable of lay observation”). The Board further accepts that she experienced acoustic trauma during service. Thus, the question becomes whether the Veteran’s tinnitus is related to service. Upon review of the record, the Board finds the preponderance of evidence is against the claim. Service treatment records are silent for complaints of or treatment for tinnitus. A March 2007 service clinical record reflects that the Veteran did not have tinnitus. Throughout the voluminous clinical records of her service in the Air Force reserves there is no complaint or even history of tinnitus. The first indication of tinnitus in the medical evidence is a February 2013 treatment record, at which time the Veteran was being treated for a left eye condition. Thereafter, during an August 2015 VA examination, the Veteran reported military noise exposure from working in a clinic near the flight line and that she used hearing protection intermittently. The Veteran also reported that her tinnitus began approximately two years prior and occurs at least twice per week. The examiner noted that the medical record is silent for complaints of tinnitus or hearing loss and there is an absence of evidence of cochlear damage during military service. As such, the examiner opined that the Veteran’s tinnitus is less likely than not caused by of the result of military noise exposure. Although the Veteran believes that her current tinnitus is related to service, as a lay person, she has not shown that she has specialized training sufficient to render such an opinion. See Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372, 1376-77 (Fed. Cir. 2007). While the Veteran is competent to report symptoms of tinnitus, the etiology of tinnitus which began many years after her in-service noise exposure requires medical expertise to determine. Thus, the opinion of the Veteran regarding the etiology of her current tinnitus is not competent medical evidence. As there is no competent evidence of record linking the Veteran’s current tinnitus to service, service connection for tinnitus is denied. In sum, the Board concludes that the most probative evidence of record is against finding that the Veteran’s current tinnitus was incurred in or caused by service. Accordingly, the claim for service connection is denied. In reaching the above conclusion, the Board has considered the applicability of the benefit of the doubt doctrine. As the preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, the doctrine is not for application. See 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 29, 55-56 (1990). K. A. BANFIELD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. Lance, 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.