Citation Nr: 1322444	
Decision Date: 07/15/13    Archive Date: 07/24/13

DOCKET NO.  11-07 147	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Houston, Texas


THE ISSUE

Entitlement to a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss.


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	Texas Veterans Commission


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

L. Barstow, Counsel



INTRODUCTION

The Veteran had active military service from October 1966 to August 1968.  

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2008 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Houston, Texas.

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

An April 2012 supplemental statement of the case (SSOC) referenced VA treatment records dated in April 2012.  However, those records are not included in the Veteran's claims file, to include his Virtual VA file.  Therefore, a remand is necessary to obtain and associate those treatment records with the Veteran's claims file.  Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992).

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

1.  Obtain and associate with the claims file a copy of the April 2012 VA treatment records referenced in the April 2012 SSOC.

2.  Then, readjudicate the issue on appeal.  If the benefit remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be provided a supplemental statement of the case and given an appropriate opportunity to respond.  The case should then be returned to the Board for further consideration.

The Veteran has the right to submit additional evidence and argument on the matter 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).



_________________________________________________
M. E. LARKIN 
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).