Citation Nr: 18145431
Decision Date: 10/29/18	Archive Date: 10/29/18

DOCKET NO. 16-28 141
DATE:	October 29, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for hearing loss in the left ear is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from December 1965 to May 1966, and from May 1968 to September 1969.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Portland, Oregon.
1. Entitlement to service connection for hearing loss in the left ear is remanded.
The Veteran seeks service connection for hearing loss in the left ear.   
Following the certification of the appeal to the Board in August 2016, a January 2018 VA audiologic examination report was associated with the record. The Veteran has not waived RO initial review of this new VA-generated evidence.  
In this examination report, a VA examiner diagnosed left ear hearing loss and noted that there were significant changes in left ear hearing thresholds in service.  An opinion regarding the etiology of the left ear hearing loss was not requested or provided.
The Board notes that during a prior VA examination in October 2015, a VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s current left ear hearing loss is not related to service because the pure tone audiograms that correspond to his enlistment and separation do not reveal any significant threshold shifts in the left ear. 
In light of the discrepancies between the examiners’ findings, an addendum opinion regarding causal nexus would be helpful.  
As the appeal is being remanded for an addendum opinion, the RO will have an opportunity to consider the additional evidence and provide a required supplemental statement of the case.  See 38 U.S.C. § 7105 (e)(1); 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304 (c).  
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Return the claims file, and a copy of this remand, to the examiner that provided the January 2018 VA audio examination, for an addendum opinion. If that examiner is unavailable, the claim file must be provided to a new examiner with appropriate expertise. The entire claim file, including a copy of this remand, must be reviewed by the new examiner. 
The examiner is asked to provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s current left ear sensorineural hearing loss had onset in service or is otherwise causally related to service. 
In rendering this opinion, the clinician must consider the Veteran’s report of exposure to excessive noise in service.  The examiner should review the October 2015 VA examination report, and note the Veteran’s statement that as an armor crewman he was exposed to the engine noise from a tank in addition to tank gun noise to his left side. A complete rationale is needed for the opinion expressed. 

 
D. JOHNSON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Lauritzen, Associate Counsel