Citation Nr: 18142079
Decision Date: 10/12/18	Archive Date: 10/12/18

DOCKET NO. 16-33 638
DATE:	October 12, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active military service from January 1964 to January 1968.  
This appeal comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a July 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in St. Louis, Missouri.  
1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
2. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded.
A remand is warranted to afford the Veteran a VA examination for his bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
The Veteran contends that his current hearing loss and tinnitus are due to his military service.  He asserts that while he was in the military, his military occupational specialty (MOS) was Data Processing Machine Operator, to which he was exposed to noise trauma while he was working on the first modern computer used in the military.  The Veteran’s DD-214 confirms that the Veteran’s MOS was Data Processing Machine Operator.  
In May 2015, the Veteran submitted an audiological treatment report from his private audiologist, Dr. N.  Dr. N. noted that the Veteran had complaints of hearing loss.  The private audiologist diagnosed the Veteran with mild to moderate/severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss.  
As the Veteran has not been afforded VA examinations for tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss, the Board finds that the evidence of record is sufficient to trigger VA’s duty to assist in providing the Veteran with VA examinations to determine whether his bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are etiologically related to his military service.  See McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006).
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of his tinnitus and bilateral hearing loss.  The record and a copy of this remand must be made available and reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination.  All necessary tests should be completed.  The VA examiner should address the following:
(a.) Whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that the Veteran’s bilateral hearing and/or tinnitus are related to his military service. 
(b.) A rationale for all requested opinions shall be provided.  If the examiner cannot provide an opinion without resorting to mere speculation, he shall provide a complete explanation stating why this is so.  In so doing, the examiner shall explain whether the inability to provide a more definitive opinion is the result of a need for additional information, or that he has exhausted the limits of current medical knowledge in providing an answer to that particular question(s).

 
Thomas H. O'Shay
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	J. Crawford, Associate Counsel