Citation Nr: 18147958
Decision Date: 11/06/18	Archive Date: 11/06/18

DOCKET NO. 16-55 169
DATE:	November 6, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss, currently rated 0 percent, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1972 to December 1972.  He had additional service with the Puerto Rico National Guard.
This case comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of an April 2015 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).
The Veteran was last afforded a VA examination to assess his service-connected hearing loss in August 2016.  Medical evidence received since that time and the Veteran’s statements indicate that his hearing loss may have worsened.  The Veteran further contends that the most recent VA examination does not accurately reflect the true severity of his disability.  Although the RO obtained a medical opinion in June 2017 regarding the effect of the Veteran’s disability on his daily and occupational functioning, the opinion was not provided in conjunction with an audiometric examination.  Given the possibility that the Veteran’s disability has worsened, the claim must be remanded so that he can be scheduled for a current VA examination to reassess the severity of bilateral hearing loss.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records and any outstanding private medical records identified by the Veteran as pertinent to his claim.
2. Translate all foreign language documents in the claims folder, that have not already been translated, to English.
3. Schedule the Veteran for a VA audiology examination to assess the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.
The examiner must review the claims file and should note a review took place in the report.
The appropriate DBQ should be filled out.
The examiner should provide audiometric findings and word recognition scores using the Maryland CNC test. 
The examiner should opine regarding the levels of social and occupational impairment caused by the hearing loss.
 
DELYVONNE M. WHITEHEAD
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Buck Denton, Associate Counsel