Meniere’s disease is a chronic medical condition of the inner ear. It can cause you to have trouble with your hearing and your balance. If you can establish a service connection between your current Meniere’s disease and your active military service, then you are eligible to claim monthly compensation and other disability benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (the VA).
Meniere’s disease VA disability ratings can be 30%, 60%, or 100%, depending on the frequency and severity of your symptoms.
If you want help obtaining a rating for Meniere’s disease, call Stone Rose Law at (480) 498-898 or use our contact form.
What causes Meniere’s disease is not always clear. When the cause is known, then doctors refer to Meniere’s disease as Meniere’s syndrome.
For veterans, physical trauma (like traumatic brain injury, or TBI), noise exposure, being in proximity to one or more explosions, or exposure to certain environmental factors like aviation fuel may contribute to the onset of Meniere’s syndrome.
Although the exact causes of Meniere’s disease are unknown, its symptoms are well established.
The main symptoms of Meniere’s disease are:
Additional symptoms can include headaches and sweating.
You do not have to experience these symptoms in both ears to have Meniere’s. They often occur in one ear only.
No cure exists for Meniere’s disease. Treatment consists of managing its symptoms.
As we indicated above, if your Meniere’s disease symptoms have a service connection, you can receive VA disability compensation. Here, we break down what kinds of symptoms will qualify you for specific VA disability ratings.
The VA will mainly evaluate your Meniere’s disease symptoms based on three categories:
Ordinarily, if you have more than one compensable disability, the VA will combine your individual disabilities into a single disability rating. But if you are claiming disability for Meniere’s disease, you cannot combine it with any of the three codes above, something the VA refers to as “stacking” benefits.
Instead, the VA will base your Meniere’s disease VA rating on the single highest code rating.
| VA Disability Rating | Symptoms |
| 30% | Hearing impairment with vertigo occurring less than once a month. |
| 60% | Hearing impairment with vertigo and cerebellar gait occurs from one to four times a month. |
| 100% | Hearing impairment with vertigo and cerebellar gait more than once a week. |
Even if the VA assigns you a disability rating of 30% or 60% for Meniere’s disease, in certain circumstances, you may still be able to receive total disability benefit compensation through Temporary Disability Individual Unemployability (TDIU).
The main consideration for whether you are eligible for TDIU total disability benefits is whether you can keep substantially gainful employment. Your inability to be substantially gainfully employed is essential to receiving TDIU-based compensation.
Not being able to be substantially gainfully employed does not mean you must be completely unemployable. The VA does not consider part-time employment or odd jobs to be substantially gainful employment.
To apply for TDIU, you will file two forms: VA Form 21-8940 and VA Form 21-4192, a Request for Employment Information in Connection with Claim for Disability Benefits. If you are employed, then your employer will complete this latter form.
If you cannot be substantially gainfully employed, the next step is to see if you meet the VA’s “schedular” or “extra-schedular” TDIU requirement.
Most veterans who receive TDIU benefits use this path:
To learn more about how combined VA disability ratings work, see our VA Disability Calculator.
If you cannot meet the qualifications for schedular TDIU, the VA may consider you for extraschedular benefits.
To qualify for extraschedular TDIU, you must show that your service-connected disabilities are an exceptional employment barrier to you. This means that the severity of your disabilities is not adequately reflected using the schedular method.
To support an extraschedular TDIU claim, you will need to provide comprehensive evidence, including detailed medical records, diagnostic results, and your medical treatment history.
You can make a claim for VA benefits for Meniere’s disease as a primary claim or as a secondary condition to an existing VA disability.
All benefits claims must include the following supporting documentation:
In addition, supportive written testimony (popularly known as “buddy letters” from people who have witnessed the effects of Meniere’s disease on your ability to work and to engage in daily life activities can be helpful for the VA to assess the existence, duration, and severity of your symptoms.
A service connection to your Meniere’s disease symptoms is key to making a successful claim for VA benefits.
If Meniere’s disease is your only disability, or you are claiming it as one of multiple disabilities in the same initial claim, then you will need to show the following to the satisfaction of the VA:
Sometimes, another VA-recognized current disability can lead to the onset or aggravation of another disability. This is known as a secondary basis disability claim.
Meniere’s disease can be secondary to other service-connected disabilities, like traumatic brain injury and certain autoimmune conditions.
Once you have submitted your benefits claim to the VA, the agency may schedule you for a Compensation and Pension (C&P) exam. The purpose of this exam is to allow the VA to gather more information about your Meniere’s disease symptoms and their effects on you.
A VA examiner conducts the C&P exam. The examiner will review your medical evidence and ask you some questions about your condition. Your answers to these questions will help the examiner determine your condition’s severity and eligibility for a VA disability rating.
An experienced VA disability benefits attorney can help you prepare for your C&P exam, including what kinds of questions you can expect.
After reviewing your documentation and asking you questions, the VA examiner may have you undergo a physical exam and some tests. These might include an audiometric exam to check for hearing loss and other diseases of the ear.
Audiometric testing usually has two parts:
A speech discrimination test measures how well you can differentiate words.
A pure-tone test measures your ability to hear sounds at different frequencies and volumes.
When your C&P exam is complete, the VA examiner will prepare a report for the VA to use. You, or your disability benefits lawyer if you have one, will receive a copy of this report.
The VA does not approve a significant number of initial benefits claims, including claims for Meniere’s disease or Meniere’s syndrome.
Causes for VA denial of benefits claims are many. Some of the most common reasons are:
Sometimes, the VA itself can make an error while processing your claim.
If the VA denies your initial claim, then you have multiple options in response.
Although some veterans try to file their initial claims independently, if you need to appeal a claim denial, it is a good idea to have an experienced VA claims appeal attorney represent you. The appeal procedure can be complex and has deadlines you must not miss.
Our Stone Rose Law VA disability lawyers help veterans with initial and supplemental benefits claims, including claims for Meniere’s disease and other ear conditions. We can help you receive the VA disability benefits to which you are entitled.
We can help you prepare your initial claim or appeal a claim denial.
Please call (480) 498-8998 or contact us online to set up a confidential, complimentary consultation with a veterans law attorney.
