BVA9501429 DOCKET NO. 93-04 121 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from a decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Cleveland, Ohio THE ISSUES 1. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. 2. Entitlement to an increased (compensable) evaluation for bilateral defective hearing. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Sheila A. Lawson, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran had active service from May 1964 to May 1967. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 1992 decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Cleveland, Ohio. CONTENTIONS OF APPELLANT ON APPEAL The veteran contends that he is entitled to service connection for tinnitus. During a July 1992 VA examination, he claimed that he developed this disability approximately 15 years earlier, and suggested that exposure to artillery fire may have been the cause. The veteran also contends that his service-connected bilateral defective hearing disability warrants a compensable evaluation. Apart from his personal opinion that a higher evaluation is warranted for his service-connected bilateral hearing disability, the veteran provides no argument in support of this claim. DECISION OF THE BOARD The Board, in accordance with the provisions of 38 U.S.C.A. § 7104 (West 1991), has reviewed and considered all of the evidence and material of record in the veteran's claims file. After review of the relevant evidence in this matter, and for the following reasons and bases, the Board concludes that the preponderance of the evidence is against the veteran's claim of entitlement to an increased (compensable) evaluation for bilateral defective hearing, but that the evidence supports service connection for tinnitus. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. All relevant evidence necessary for an equitable disposition of the veteran's appeal regarding bilateral defective hearing has been obtained. 2. Tinnitus may reasonably be associated with acoustic trauma during the veteran's wartime service. 3. The veteran has an average pure tone threshold of 40 decibels with a 96 percent correct speech recognition ability in the right ear, and an average pure tone threshold of 53 decibels with a 96 percent correct speech recognition ability in the left ear. 4. No exceptional or unusual disability factors have been presented. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. Tinnitus was incurred in active service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 5107 (West 1991). 2. A compensable evaluation for bilateral defective hearing is not warranted. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1155, 5107 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.321(b)(1), 4.7, 4.85 and Part 4, Diagnostic Code 6100 (1993). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS As a preliminary matter, the Board must determine whether the veteran has submitted evidence of well-grounded claims. If he has not, his appeals must fail, and VA is not obligated to assist him in the development of such claims. 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(a) (West 1991). The Board finds both these claims to be well grounded and adequately developed. I. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus The veteran is service connected for bilateral hearing loss, shown by VA audiological examination in July 1992 to be of the high frequency or sensorineural type. When service connecting this hearing loss in May 1992, the Board conceded exposure to acoustic trauma during the veteran's military service, which included a tour of duty in Vietnam. He now also has a diagnosis of bilateral, constant tinnitus aurium, and provides credible history of many years of ringing in the ears. Tinnitus is not uncommon in individuals with the sort of hearing loss which the veteran has, and is often traceable to the same acoustic trauma which gave rise to the loss. Seeing no evidence to the contrary, the Board is willing to concede service connection in this case. II. Entitlement to an increased, compensable evaluation for bilateral defective hearing In accordance with 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.1, 4.2 (1993) and Schafrath v. Derwinski, 1 Vet.App. 589 (1991), the Board has reviewed the veteran's service medical records and all other evidence of record pertaining to the history of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss, and has found nothing in the historical record that would lead to a conclusion that the current evidence of record is not adequate for rating purposes. Disability ratings are determined by applying the criteria set forth in the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (Rating Schedule), found in 38 C.F.R. Part 4 (1993). The Board attempts to determine the extent to which the veteran's service- connected disability adversely affects his ability to function under the ordinary conditions of daily life, and the assigned rating is based, as far as practicable, upon the average impairment of earning capacity in civil occupations. 38 U.S.C.A § 1155 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.1, 4.10 (1993). Under the schedular criteria, evaluations of bilateral defective hearing loss range from noncompensable to 100 percent based upon organic impairment of hearing acuity as measured by the results of controlled speech discrimination tests together with the average hearing threshold level as measured by pure tone audiometry tests for the frequencies 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 and 4,000 cycles per second. To evaluate the degree of disability from defective hearing, the rating schedule establishes eleven auditory acuity levels from level I for essentially normal acuity through level XI for profound deafness. 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.85, 4.87, Diagnostic Codes 6100 to 6110. As outlined in the chart below, a July 1992 VA audiological evaluation revealed that the veteran had an average pure tone threshold, at the frequencies cited above, of 40 decibels, with a 96 percent correct speech recognition ability, in the right ear, and an average pure tone threshold of 53 decibels, with a 96 percent correct speech recognition ability, in the left ear: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 10 15 15 60 70 LEFT 10 10 25 85 90 These results, when compared with Tables found in the Rating Schedule, show that the veteran has auditory acuity level I in each ear; thus, the current noncompensable rating is proper. See 38 C.F.R. § 4.85, Table VI, and Diagnostic Code 6100. Moreover, the Board is otherwise unable to identify any exceptional or unusual circumstances warranting a higher rating on an extraschedular basis pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.321(b)(1). ORDER Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is granted. Entitlement to an increased (compensable) evaluation for bilateral defective hearing is denied. J. J. SCHULE Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___ (1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be assigned to an individual member of the Board for a determination. This proceeding has been assigned to an individual member of the Board. NOTICE OF APPELLATE RIGHTS: Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7266 (West 1991), a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals granting less than the complete benefit, or benefits, sought on appeal is appealable to the United States Court of Veterans Appeals within 120 days from the date of mailing of notice of the decision, provided that a Notice of Disagreement concerning an issue that was before the Board was filed with the agency of original jurisdiction on or after November 18, 1988. Veterans' Judicial Review Act, Pub. L. No. 100-687, § 402 (1988). The date that appears on the face of this decision constitutes the date of mailing and the copy of this decision that you have received is your notice of the action taken on your appeal by the Board of Veterans' Appeals.