Jim;
My husband was awarded 10% in 2005 for tinnitus. He recently took two hearing exams from two state licensed audiologists and one actually stated in a letter given to my husband “ in my medical opinion…….Mr. Stamper’s military service cannot be ruled out as a contributing factor to his high frequency hearing loss”. Both audiologists told my husband that he had moderate to severe hearing loss. We are filing a new claim, but we desperately need your advice. Do we file as bilateral hearing loss, bilateral tinnitus or hearing loss in the left ear (which is the one that has the worse hearing loss)?
Reply:
The tinnitus claim is set as high as it will go. There is no category of bilateral and 10% is the award limit.
He will want to proceed to file for bilateral hearing loss. It would be best if that audiologist would state "it is more likely than not..." rather than "cannot rule out". VA needs to see a positive correlation between service and the condition.
File now by writing a simple letter making the claim and enclosing copies of the records you have. He'll probably be called in for a C & P hearing exam and then eventually you'll get the decision letter. If it isn't what you wanted to see, please let me know and we'll review how to appeal.