CAVC Case 97-1184: Hearing Loss
CAVCReal U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) decision · July 23, 1998 · FARLEY
This is a decision of the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims — the federal court that reviews Board of Veterans' Appeals decisions, one level above the Board. Court decisions can vacate, reverse, or affirm what the Board did.
Official 2026 VA monthly compensation, including the 2.8% COLA increase.
Dependent add-ons start at a 30% rating. Child-only and dependent-parent rates: see the full 2026 pay chart.
2026 base rates, all ratings (veteran alone)
| Rating | Monthly (2026, incl. 2.8% COLA) |
|---|---|
| 10% | $180.42 |
| 20% | $356.66 |
| 30% | $552.47 |
| 40% | $795.84 |
| 50% | $1,132.90 |
| 60% | $1,435.02 |
| 70% | $1,808.45 |
| 80% | $2,102.15 |
| 90% | $2,362.30 |
| 100% | $3,938.58 |
Conditions Claimed
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Issues on Appeal
Hearing LossTinnitusHip
Why It Was Decided This Way
In the March 19, 1997, decision here on appeal the Board found that there was no medical evidence showing a nexus between the veteran's current conditions and service.
Brown, the Court held that for such a claim to be well grounded, there generally must be (1) a medical diagnosis of a current disability; (2) medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury in service; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between an in-service injury or disease and the current disability.
Brown, concluded as follows regarding Collette: It is unclear whether in setting forth this analysis the Federal Circuit intended to alter the medical nexus requirement set forth in Caluza .
(holding that section 1154(b) relates only to what happened in service ("what happened then") and does not excuse need for medical evidence of nexus to service, and that term "service 5 connection" in that statute means "service incurrence or aggravation.
at 510-12, that the weighing of contrary evidence cannot be considered under § 1154(b) as part of the first two steps but only as part of rebuttal of service incurrence under the clear-and-convincing evidence standard, can be fairly read as not affecting Caluza's medical nexus analysis, a reading that the Court adopts.
536, 539 (1997) (holding that, absent medical-nexus evidence, there was "no reasonable possibility that consideration of § 1154(b) by the Board could change the outcome of the case on the merits"); Brock [v.
§ 1154(b) relate[s] only to the question of service incurrence, 'that is, what happened then--not the questions of either current disability or nexus to service, as to both of which competent medical evidence is generally required'" (quoting Caluza, 7 Vet.
The Court has addressed the nexus issue in Caluza, Libertine, and Velez, and has consistently held, as we hold again today, that a combat veteran who has successfully established the in-service occurrence or aggravation of an injury pursuant to § 1154(b) and Collette, must still submit sufficient evidence of a causal nexus between that in-service event and his or her current disability as required by Caluza.
Authorities Cited
Regulations Cited (38 CFR / 38 USC)
Denial Type
No Nexus
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