Citation Nr: 1335781	
Decision Date: 11/05/13    Archive Date: 11/13/13

DOCKET NO.  11-28 213	)	DATE
	)
	)

On appeal from the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Winston-Salem, North Carolina


THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss.

2.  Entitlement to service connection for bilateral scar tissue of the ears.


REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by:	North Carolina Division of Veterans Affairs


ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD

M. Harrigan Smith, Counsel



INTRODUCTION

The Veteran had active service from March 1960 to September 1960, and from October 1961 to August 1962.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2010 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, that denied entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and bilateral scar tissue of the ears.

The appeal is REMANDED to the RO via the Appeals Management Center (AMC), in Washington, DC.  VA will notify the appellant if further action is required on his part.


REMAND

A preliminary review of the record shows that this matter is not ready for appellate disposition because of an outstanding VA hearing request by the Veteran.

In the Veteran's October 2011 substantive appeal, he requested a hearing to be held before a Veterans Law Judge via videoconference.  A hearing was scheduled for April 26, 2013, but he failed to report for the hearing.  The Veteran has informed VA that he did not receive the notification informing him of the time, date and location of his hearing, as his address had changed.  In the claims file, there is mail that had been sent to his address and was returned as undeliverable.  The Veteran has now provided the VA with his current address, and has requested that his hearing be rescheduled.  In the interest of appropriately fulfilling VA's duty to assist, the appeal must be remanded so the Veteran can be scheduled for a hearing as requested.  38 C.F.R. § 20.704 (2013).

Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action:

The RO should take appropriate steps to schedule the Veteran for a Videoconference hearing before a Veterans Law Judge at the next available opportunity.  Any indicated development should be undertaken in connection with this hearing request.  Thereafter, if indicated, the case should be returned to the Board for the purpose of appellate disposition.

The purpose of this remand is to satisfy a hearing request, and the Board does not intimate any opinion as to the merits of the case, either favorable or unfavorable, at this time.

The appellant 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).



_________________________________________________
BARBARA B. COPELAND
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).