Citation Nr: 18152425
Decision Date: 11/21/18	Archive Date: 11/21/18

DOCKET NO. 11-28 344
DATE:	November 21, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from August 1971 to June 1974. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a May 2010 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 
A hearing at the RO before a Decision Review Officer was conducted in December 2012. In October 2014, the Veteran testified at a videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. Transcripts of the hearings are associated with the record. 
In January 2015, service connection for tinnitus was denied by the Board. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). By a May 2016 Memorandum Decision of the Court, the Court vacated the January 2015 denial of service connection for tinnitus and remanded the matter back to the Board. 
In January 2017, service connection for tinnitus was denied by the Board. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the Court. By a May 2018 Memorandum Decision of the Court, the Court vacated the January 2017 denial of service connection for tinnitus and remanded that decision back to the Board. 
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded.
As stated above, in May 2018, the Court issued a Memorandum Decision vacating the Board’s decision and remanding it to the Board for further proceedings consistent with the Court’s decision regarding the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to service connection for tinnitus. 
Pursuant to the Memorandum Decision, the Board finds that a new VA examination is warranted. The Court concluded that the Board erred by finding the January 2013 VA Hearing Loss and Tinnitus examination adequate as the examiner did not provide an adequate rationale for her negative nexus opinion, did not adequately consider the favorable nexus evidence, nor take into account the Veteran’s lay statements of initially experiencing constant tinnitus symptoms in and since service. The Court directed that on remand, the Board will seek a new examination to evaluate whether the Veteran’s tinnitus is related to service. Therefore, the issue is remanded for a new VA examination and opinion.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine the etiology of the Veteran’s tinnitus. The claims file must be made available to and pertinent documents therein reviewed by the examiner. After reviewing the claims file, including all prior opinions provided, and examining the Veteran, the examiner should answer the following question:
Is it at least as likely as not (a 50 percent greater probability greater) that the Veteran’s tinnitus was incurred in or aggravated during service, or is otherwise related to service? 
The examiner is advised that the Veteran has given a history of constant tinnitus for a few days around 1973-1974 after his exposure to a grenade simulator explosion, followed by intermittent tinnitus and then by constant tinnitus which began around 2002. This history should be considered and discussed.
 
BARBARA B. COPELAND
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	T. Grzeczkowicz, Associate Counsel