Citation Nr: 18152847
Decision Date: 11/26/18	Archive Date: 11/26/18

DOCKET NO. 15-33 290
DATE:	November 26, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for left ear hearing loss is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Private audiograms conducted over many years by the Veteran’s longterm specialist physician establish that the Veteran has a current left ear hearing loss disability (as defined by VA regulations).  The Veteran provided competent and credible descriptions of in-service left eardrum injury and treatment, in-service noise exposure including gunfire, and difficulty hearing in his left ear since service.  The Veteran’s October 1965 separation audiogram shows a threshold shift at 4000 Hz from the November 1963 entrance exam.  In a November 2013 letter, the Veteran’s physician noted that he had treated the Veteran since the 1980s and concluded that the Veteran’s hearing loss is a probable result of in-service noise exposure.  There is no evidence of post-service occupational or recreational noise exposure.  There is no VA nexus opinion because the two VA audiological examinations yielded invalid results as to the Veteran’s level of hearing loss.  Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) finds that the evidence is at least evenly balanced for and against (in “relative equipoise”) a finding that service connection is warranted for left ear hearing loss.  

CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for left ear hearing loss have been met.  38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty from January 1964 to December 1965.  This matter is before the Board on appeal from a February 2014 rating decision.  In written statements, the Veteran clarified that he did not intend to claim service connection for tinnitus (previously listed as an issue on appeal).   In an October 2018 written statement, he withdrew his previous request for a Board hearing.  
Service connection claims for left ear disabilities other than hearing loss have been raised by the record in the November 2013 physician letter, but have not been adjudicated by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). Therefore, the Board does not have jurisdiction over them, and they are referred to the AOJ for appropriate action. 38 C.F.R. § 19.9(b).
For the reasons outlined above, service connection is warranted. 
 
VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	N. Robinson, Associate Counsel