Citation Nr: 18146222
Decision Date: 10/31/18	Archive Date: 10/30/18

DOCKET NO. 15-29 736
DATE:	October 31, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Bilateral hearing loss disability is etiologically related to acoustic trauma sustained in active service.  
CONCLUSION OF LAW
Bilateral hearing loss disability was incurred in active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.385 (2018).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran had active naval service from February 1965 to July 1968.        
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2013 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Montgomery, Alabama.     
In connection with this appeal, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in October 2018.    
The Veteran was diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss considered to be disabling for VA purposes during his June 2013 VA audiological examination. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385.  Sensorineural hearing loss is considered to be “organic diseases of the nervous system,” and are therefore chronic diseases for VA purposes.  38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (a); see also Fountain v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 258, 271-72 (2015).  As such, service connection may be awarded based on continuity of symptomatology.
The Veteran has generally alleged that his bilateral hearing loss had its onset during his period of service.  Service treatment records are silent for any complaints of, treatment for, or diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss.  However, the Veteran has competently and credibly reported that during this period of service he noticed a decline in his hearing acuity after exposure to loud noise from large artillery fire while aboard a naval vessel stationed in the Republic of Vietnam.  Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007).  His reports are corroborated by his DD Form 214, which shows he served in a water transportation occupation.  
During the course of the appeal, the Veteran has generally asserted that his bilateral hearing loss has been persistent since service.  Those statements are competent and there is no evidence that they are not credible.  As such, they are entitled to significant probative weight as to the continuity of the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss since service.
VA obtained a medical opinion concerning hearing loss in June 2013.  The examiner opined that he could not determine the etiology of the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss, as it would require speculation.  The Board finds the June 2013 VA medical opinion inadequate for adjudication purposes.  In this regard, the Board notes that the examiner failed to consider the Veteran’s lay statements regarding the onset and continuity of his bilateral hearing loss.  As the opinion is not adequate, it cannot serve as the basis of a denial of entitlement to service connection.      
Accordingly, the Board finds that the evidence for and against the claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability is at least in equipoise. Therefore, reasonable doubt must be resolved in favor of the Veteran and entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss disability is warranted.  38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b) (2012); Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). 
 
Kristin Haddock
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	C. O’Donnell, Associate Counsel