Citation Nr: 1800677 Decision Date: 01/05/18 Archive Date: 01/19/18 DOCKET NO. 16-17 623 ) DATE ) ) On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in MANI THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability. REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: California Department of Veterans Affairs ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Joseph R. Keselyak, Counsel INTRODUCTION The Veteran had active service in the New Philippine Scouts from March 1946 to February 1949. This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal of a July 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Manila, the Republic of the Philippines. This appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2017). 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2) (2002). The appeal is REMANDED to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). VA will notify the appellant if further action is required. REMAND The Veteran has filed a claim for service of connection of a bilateral hearing loss disability. VA records document assessment of bilateral hearing loss, with the prescription of hearing aids. The Veteran's service treatment records are unavailable, having been destroyed. See June 2006 VA Memorandum. The Veteran has not been afforded a VA examination to address his claim. Under the circumstances, the Veteran should be afforded an opportunity for a VA audiologic examination. Although the record contains no specific allegation of acoustic trauma, etc., the assertion is implicit in this claim. This, in conjunction with the lack of service treatment records, leads the Board to conclude that a VA examination is necessary to decide the claim. See McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006). Accordingly, the case is REMANDED for the following action: (Please note, this appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c). Expedited handling is requested.) 1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA audiological examination to determine the presence, severity and etiology of the claimed bilateral hearing loss disability. All indicated tests and studies should be conducted. The claims file should be available for review by the examiner. The examiner should obtain a complete, pertinent history from the Veteran and review the claims file in conjunction with the examination, giving particular attention to any lay assertions regarding noise exposure and hearing loss, as well as the pertinent medical evidence. The examiner should note that the claims file has been reviewed. Based on a review of the record and examination of the Veteran, the examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or better probability) that bilateral hearing loss is attributable to service, including any reported noise exposure experienced in service. Any and all opinions must be accompanied by a complete rationale. If the examiner is unable to reach an opinion without resort to speculation, he or she should explain the reasons for this inability and comment on whether any further tests, evidence or information would be useful in rendering an opinion. It is noted that the requirements for service connection for hearing loss need not be shown by audiometric testing during a claimant's period of active duty in order for the claim to be granted. Rather, service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability may be granted where there is credible evidence of acoustic trauma due to noise exposure in service, post-service audiometric findings meeting the regulatory requirements for hearing loss disability for VA purposes, and a medically-sound basis upon which to attribute the post-service findings to the injury in service, as opposed to intercurrent causes. The examiner is informed that the term "at least as likely as not" does not mean within the realm of medical possibility, but rather that the medical evidence both for and against a certain conclusion is so evenly divided that it is as medically sound to find in favor of such a conclusion as it is to find against it. 2. Then, after conducting any additional indicated development, readjudicate the claims currently on appeal. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, issue a Supplemental Statement of the Case to the Veteran and his representative and provide them an appropriate period of time to respond before this case is returned to the Board. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) 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 2014). _________________________________________________ K. J. ALIBRANDO Veterans Law Judge, Board of Veterans' Appeals Under 38 U.S.C. § 7252 (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) (2017).