Citation Nr: 0812266 Decision Date: 04/14/08 Archive Date: 05/01/08 DOCKET NO. 07-23 708 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Chicago, Illinois THE ISSUE Entitlement to an initial compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: The American Legion WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD L. B. Yantz, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from May 1953 to May 1955. This matter has come before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2004 rating decision of the Cleveland, Ohio Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO), which granted service connection for bilateral hearing loss and assigned a 0 percent rating, effective March 19, 2004. The veteran perfected an appeal as to the disability rating assigned. Thereafter, the veteran's file was transferred to the RO in Chicago, Illinois. The veteran testified at a hearing before a Hearing Officer at the Chicago RO in October 2006. A transcript of that hearing is associated with the claims file. In January 2008, the veteran's representative, on the veteran's behalf, submitted a waiver of initial RO consideration for all additional evidence submitted after the issuance of the May 2007 Statement of the Case. See 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304 (2007); see also VA Form 646 dated January 25, 2008. The veteran testified at a Travel Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in March 2008. A transcript of that hearing is associated with the claims file. In April 2008, for good cause shown, the Board advanced the veteran's case on the docket. 38 U.S.C.A. § 7107(a) (West 2002); 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2007). For reasons explained below, this appeal is REMANDED to the Chicago RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC) in Washington, DC. VA will notify the veteran if further action is required. REMAND At his RO hearing in October 2006, the veteran requested a new VA audiological examination, as a follow-up to his May 2004 VA audiological examination. See RO Hearing Transcript at page 2. In May 2007, the veteran reported to his VA audiological examination at the Jefferson Barracks Division of the VA Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri. According to the examination report, testing was terminated due to poor reliability of results. At his Travel Board hearing in March 2008, the veteran and his representative testified that, in their opinion, the May 2007 VA audiological examination was invalid and inadequate because the VA examiner had a "bad attitude" and failed to explain the examination instructions to the veteran. See Travel Board Hearing Transcript at pages 4-6. The veteran requested a new VA audiological examination with a new VA examiner at the John Cochran Division of the St. Louis VA Medical Center. See id. at page 5. Accordingly, this case is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Schedule the veteran for a VA audiological examination at the John Cochran Division of the St. Louis VA Medical Center, in order to determine the current severity of his bilateral hearing loss. The VA examiner is asked to provide results in a numeric format for each of the following frequencies: 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz. The examiner is also asked to provide an average of the above frequencies for each ear and indicate speech recognition scores for each ear using the Maryland CNC Test. 2. Then, readjudicate the veteran's claim in light of the additional evidence obtained. If the claim is not granted to the veteran's satisfaction, then send him and his representative a Supplemental Statement of the Case and give them time to respond to it. The veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters that the Board has remanded. Kutscherousky v. West, 12 Vet. App. 369 (1999). This claim must be afforded expeditious treatment. The law requires that all claims that are remanded by the Board of Veterans' Appeals or by the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims for additional development or other appropriate action must be handled in an expeditious manner. See 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 5109B, 7112 (West Supp. 2007). _________________________________________________ DEBORAH W. SINGLETON Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 2002), only a decision of the Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims. This remand is in the nature of a preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board on the merits of your appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (2007).