Citation Nr: 21024544 Decision Date: 04/23/21 Archive Date: 04/23/21 DOCKET NO. 20-00 516 DATE: April 23, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to a total disability rating based on unemployability (TDIU) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran has been rendered unable to maintain substantially gainful employment as a result of service-connected disabilities. CONCLUSION OF LAW Resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, the criteria for TDIU have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.3, 4.15, 4.16, 4.18, 4.19, 4.25 (2019). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1962 to October 1966. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2018 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Honolulu, Hawaii, which denied entitlement to individual unemployability. The Veteran testified in a hearing before the undersigned in September 2020. The hearing transcript is of record. 1. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on unemployability (TDIU) Total disability is considered to exist when there is any impairment that is sufficient to render it impossible for the average person to follow a substantially gainful occupation. 38 C.F.R. § 3.340(a)(1). The law provides that a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disability may be assigned, as relevant here, where the Veteran is rated at a combined 70 percent for two or more service-connected disabilities and at least one disability is rated at 40 percent or higher, and where the disabled person is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of the service-connected disabilities. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.16(a). At the outset, the Board notes the Veteran is service-connected for diabetes mellitus, type 2, rated at 40 percent; bilateral hearing impairment, rated at 40 percent; bilateral upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, rated at 20 percent each; bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy of the sciatic nerve, rated at 20 percent each; bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy of the femoral nerve, rated at 20 percent each; tinnitus, rated at 10 percent; and left cataract; rated noncompensably. Here, the Veteran is rated at a combined 90 percent and at least one disability is rated at 40 percent or higher. As such, the schedular criteria for a TDIU is met, and the Board will proceed with review of whether the Veteran is unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation as a result of his service-connected disabilities. The Veteran essentially contends that he is unable to maintain a substantially gainful occupation due to symptoms and impairment caused by his service-connected disabilities. The Veteran’s VA Form 21-8940, Application for Increased Compensation Based on Unemployability, lists diabetes and associated disabilities as the primary reasons for his unemployability. However, the Board notes that during his hearing before the undersigned in September 2020, the Veteran’s hearing loss was also addressed. The Board has reviewed the Veteran’s medical record, as well as the lay statements of record. There is no indication that the Veteran held any type of employment other than “odd jobs” since 2006. The Board finds credible the Veteran’s contentions during his hearing that he last worked full time in 2006, as the evidence of record corroborates his statement. The Veteran’s Form 21-8940 is consistent with his testimony, and Social Security Administration records show that the Veteran became entitled to disability payments as of January 2006. There is no indication in the record that the Veteran has obtained or maintained substantially gainful employment since 2006. In September 2017, the Veteran was afforded a VA hearing loss and tinnitus examination. The examiner indicated that these disabilities have a functional impact on the Veteran. The Veteran reported he has to have his hearing aids “cranked up” all the time. The Board notes that the Veteran’s speech discrimination scores were 64 percent on the right and 52 percent on the left. In December 2017, the Veteran was afforded VA diabetes and peripheral neuropathy examinations. The examiner indicated that the Veteran has decreased ambulatory ability secondary to pain in his feet aggravated by weight bearing. The Veteran testified before the undersigned in September 2020 that he is on five or more medications for diabetes; experiences fatigue, tingling and numbness in his arms and legs; cannot stand for more than 15 minute; cannot walk around the block or cut grass; and experiences pain in his extremities. The Veteran also testified that even with hearing aids, he is forced to read lips in order to understand speech, and generally is unable to hear. The Board finds the Veteran’s testimony to be credible. The Board finds that the evidence shows it is the totality of the Veteran’s disabilities that render him totally unemployable for purposes of entitlement to a TDIU. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.14(a). Upon review of the evidence of record, the Board finds that the Veteran’s diabetes, associated peripheral neuropathies, and hearing loss preclude employment. In so finding, the Board notes that the Veteran’s total disability picture has not been medically assessed in his VA examinations, but rather, each disability has been evaluated individually. The Board finds persuasive that while a single service-connected disability may be insufficient to cause total occupational impairment, the totality of the Veteran’s symptomatology here—especially the underlined difficulty with physical movement, including numbness and pain, along with his difficulty with hearing speech—together combine to preclude the Veteran from obtaining and maintaining substantially gainful employment. In so finding, the Board finds the lay statements of record, and specifically, the testimony during the September 2020 hearing, to be both credible and probative. In consideration of the foregoing, and resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that the combined effect of the Veteran’s service connected disabilities is of sufficient severity to render him unable to follow substantially gainful employment. Entitlement to a TDIU is thus warranted. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.340, 3.341, 4.15, 4.16. Caroline Fleming Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Comninos, Georgio 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.