Citation Nr: 18147286 Decision Date: 11/02/18 Archive Date: 11/02/18 DOCKET NO. 16-33 880 DATE: November 2, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of malaria and/or dengue fever is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1966 to June 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2013 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Oakland, California. A September 2017 rating decision granted service connection for tinnitus and left ear hearing loss. As this represents a full grant of the benefits sought, those issues are no longer before the Board. See Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156, 1158-59 (Fed. Cir. 1997). 1. Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is remanded. An October 2014 VA audiology consult references the results of an audiogram. See October 2014 Audiology Consult (referencing a word discrimination score of 92 percent for the right ear). The audiometric results from the audiogram have not been associated with the claims file. On remand, the complete audiogram should be obtained, including any information on the type of word discrimination test utilized. Additionally, the Veteran submitted releases to VA to request his private treatment records for his hearing loss from Samsun Clinic. See September 2011 Authorization for Release of Information; May 2015 Authorization for Release of Information. Although some Samsun Clinic records have been associated with the claims file, they appear to relate solely to the Veteran’s separate claim of service connection for diabetes mellitus. In his releases, the Veteran stated he had received treatment for his hearing loss since 2006. Id. To date, the earliest records associated with the claims file from Samsun Clinic are from 2015, forward. 2. Entitlement to service connection for residuals of malaria/dengue fever is remanded. On remand, the Veteran should be scheduled for an appropriate VA examination to determine of he has any residuals of malaria and/or dengue fever related to his military service. As this matter is being remanded, the Veteran’s updated VA treatment records should be obtained and an additional attempt should be made to obtain his complete service treatment records and private treatment records. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Make arrangements to obtain the Veteran’s complete service treatment records, to include all clinical records. 2. Make arrangements to obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records, dated from April 2017, forward. 3. Make arrangements to obtain the audiometric results from the October 22, 2014 audiogram performed at the Tulare VA medical facility. 4. Make arrangements to obtain the Veteran’s complete treatment records from Sansum Clinic, dated from 2006 forward; from Immediate Care Center, dated from 2011 forward; and from Valley Industrial and Family Medical, dated from 2000 forward. 5. Thereafter, schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine whether he has any current residuals of malaria and/or dengue fever related to his active service. In so doing, the examiner should consider the service treatment records showing that the Veteran was hospitalized for tonsillitis during service in April 1967; as well as the May 2014 letter from Foster Taft, M.D. stating that the Veteran’s in-service symptoms during his hospitalization in April 1967 were typical of dengue fever. The examiner should also address the Veteran’s assertion that he has skin rashes as a result of in-service malaria and/or dengue fever. (Continued on the next page)   The claims file, including a copy of this remand, should be made available to the examiner for review in conjunction with the opinion/examination, and the examiner should note such review. A complete rationale should be provided for all opinions given. P.M. DILORENZO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. M. Stedman, Associate Counsel