Citation Nr: 1237783 Decision Date: 11/05/12 Archive Date: 11/09/12 DOCKET NO. 10-13 691 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Boston, Massachusetts THE ISSUE Entitlement to a compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss. REPRESENTATION Veteran represented by: Disabled American Veterans WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL The Veteran ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J. L. Prichard, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active service from November 1965 to August 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a July 2009 rating decision of the Boston, Massachusetts, regional office (RO) of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Veteran appeared at a hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at the RO in November 2010. A transcript of this hearing is in the claims folder. The Board has reviewed the Veteran's electronic record (Virtual VA) prior to rendering a decision in this case. It does not contain any evidence not already in the claims folder or considered by the RO. The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC. VA will notify the Veteran if further action is required. REMAND The Veteran contends that his service connected bilateral hearing loss has increased in severity to such an extent that a compensable evaluation is now warranted. He notes that he was recently fitted for a hearing aid by the VA. At the November 2010 hearing, the Veteran immediately testified that his hearing loss had become worse since his most recent VA examination, which had been obtained in July 2009. The Veteran noted that had recently been given hearing aids, which he did not have at the time of the prior examination. The veteran is entitled to a new VA examination where there is evidence (including his statements) that the condition has worsened since the last examination. Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997); Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377 (1994). Therefore, the Board has no option but to request that the Veteran be provided with a new VA hearing examination. The Veteran also testified that he is in receipt of ongoing treatment for his hearing loss. He said that he receives treatment from the VA Medical Center in Jamaica Plains, and from Dr. Shea, a private physician, at Addison Gilbert Hospital. An attempt must be made to obtain these records. Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the names and addresses of all medical care providers who treated the Veteran for bilateral hearing loss since 2009. After securing any necessary release, the RO should obtain these records. This should include VA treatment records from Jamaica Plains, and private treatment records from Dr. Shea at Addison Gilbert Hospital. If the attempt to obtain the private records is not successful, the Veteran should be notified that he may obtain these records and submit them on his own. 2. The Veteran should be afforded a VA hearing examination to ascertain the current severity of his service connected bilateral hearing loss. The claims folder must be made available to the examiner for review with the examination. All indicated tests and studies should be conducted, and all information needed to evaluate the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss should be included in the examination report. The reasons and bases for any opinion should be included. 3. After the development requested above has been completed to the extent possible, the RO should again review the record. If any benefit sought on appeal, for which a notice of disagreement has been filed, remains denied, the Veteran and representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and given the opportunity to respond thereto. The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter or matters 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. 2012). _________________________________________________ C. TRUEBA 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) (2012).