Citation Nr: 18143476 Decision Date: 10/19/18 Archive Date: 10/19/18 DOCKET NO. 15-42 652A DATE: October 19, 2018 ORDER Service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability is granted. Service connection for a nerve disability of the bilateral upper extremities is granted. Service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED) is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss disability is related to his active duty service. 2. The Veteran’s nerve disability of the bilateral upper extremities is related to a service connected disability. 3. The Veteran’s ED is related to a service connected disability. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for service connection for a bilateral hearing loss disability are met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303 (2018). 2. The criteria for service connection for a nerve disability of the bilateral upper extremities have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310 (2018). 3. The criteria for service connection for ED have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.310 (2018) REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from February 1967 to January 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from August 2014 and December 2014 rating decisions. The Board has granted the Veteran’s claims; as such, the Board finds that any error related to VA’s duties to notify and assist is moot. 38 U.S.C. §§ 5103, 5103A; 38 C.F.R. § 3.159; Mayfield v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 103, (2005), rev’d on other grounds, Mayfield v. Nicholson, 444 F.3d 1328 (Fed. Cir. 2006). Service Connection Service connection may be granted for disability or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. In order to establish service connection for a claimed disability, there must be (1) evidence of a current disability; (2) medical, or in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) evidence, generally medical, of a nexus between the claimed in service disease or injury and the current disability. Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247 (1999). Hearing loss is a chronic disease, and service connection may be established based on a continuity of symptomatology. 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a); Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Service connection may be additionally granted on a secondary basis for a disability that is proximately due to or the result of a service connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a); Harder v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 183 (1993). Additional disability resulting from the aggravation of a non service connected disability by a service connected disability is also service connected. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310; Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). To establish service connection for a claimed disability on a secondary basis, there must be evidence of a current disability, a service connected disability, and medical evidence of a nexus between the service connected disability and the current disability. Wallin v. West, 11 Vet. App. 509 (1998). Service Connection for a Bilateral Hearing Loss Disability With regard to the presence of a current disability, the Veteran, for example during his July 2014 examination, has demonstrated a bilateral hearing loss disability for VA purposes. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. With regard to an in service event or injury, the Veteran has credibly contended, for example in December 2014, that he was exposed to loud noise in-service while serving as a field artilleryman. Thus, the evidence shows that the Veteran experienced in service noise exposure and that he has a current bilateral hearing loss disability. The remaining question is whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss disability is related to service. The Board finds that the credible statements from the Veteran describing the long standing nature of his symptoms present a continuity of symptomatology from his military service to his present disability. This continuity of symptomatology serves as the necessary nexus between the Veteran’s current bilateral hearing loss disability and his active duty service. Service connection is accordingly granted. In making this finding, the Board acknowledges that a July 2014 examiner found that the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss was less likely than not related to his service. With that said, the Board notes that the Veteran’s credible report of the duration of symptoms alone may form the necessary nexus for service connection. The examiner did not adequately explain why the Veteran’s credible account of his symptoms was insufficient to establish a connection between his bilateral hearing loss and service. This omission is particularly relevant because the examiner connected the Veteran’s tinnitus to service. The Board thus places relatively little weight on this opinion. Service Connection for a Nerve Disability of the Bilateral Upper Extremities The Board notes that the Veteran has variously characterized his claim as either one for carpal tunnel syndrome or peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities. For clarity, the Board has broadened the scope of the Veteran’s claim to a nerve disability affecting the upper extremities. The Veteran is service-connected for diabetes, and in July 2014, a VA examiner diagnosed the Veteran with diabetic peripheral neuropathy of the upper extremities. Service connection is accordingly granted for a nerve disability of the bilateral upper extremities secondary to the Veteran’s service-connected diabetes. Service Connection for ED (Continued on the next page)   The Veteran is service-connected for diabetes and ischemic heart disease (IHD), and in July 2014, a VA examiner diagnosed the Veteran with ED. The Veteran described an onset of ED approximately contemporaneous with his diabetes and IHD. While the examiner was unable to find a connection between the Veteran’s ED and his diabetes, the Board notes that this examination was performed before the Veteran was granted a 100 percent disability rating for IHD. Given the close relationship between circulatory problems and ED, along with the Veteran’s statements regarding the duration of his ED, service connection is accordingly granted for ED secondary to his service-connected disabilities. THOMAS H. O'SHAY Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD J.A. Flynn