Citation Nr: 18153465
Decision Date: 11/27/18	Archive Date: 11/27/18

DOCKET NO. 15-02 563
DATE:	November 27, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is remanded.
Entitlement to a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from July 1966 to May 1970. These matters are before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2011 rating decision.
1.  Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss.
The Veteran’s Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) was teletype repairman, which suggests some exposure to noise in service.  On April 2011 VA audiology examination, the examiner, noting that service entrance and separation audiograms were within normal limits, and that [during service] there was no puretone threshold shift in the left ear at any frequency, opined that the Veteran’s current hearing loss is unrelated to his service.  Under governing caselaw, the absence of a hearing loss in service is not fatal to a claim of service connection for hearing loss (see Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155, 159 (1993)).  Furthermore, the examiner did not identify an alternate, considered more likely, etiology for left ear hearing loss.  A more complete, fully adequate, opinion in this matter is necessary.
2.  Entitlement to a compensable rating for right ear hearing loss.
The Veteran was last afforded a VA examination to assess his hearing loss disability in April 2011. In November 2018 written argument his representative asserted that he had reported that his hearing acuity had worsened since that examination.  Considering the length of intervening period and the allegation of worsening, a contemporaneous examination to assess the disability is necessary (and if service connection for left ear hearing loss should be granted, the disability would require rating as a bilateral one). See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400 (1997).
The matters are REMANDED for the following:
Arrange for an audiological evaluation of the Veteran (with audiometric studies) to ascertain the likely etiology of his left ear hearing loss and the current severity of his right ear hearing loss. The Veteran’s record must be reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the examination. On a review of the record, and examination of the Veteran, the examiner should: 
(a) Identify the likely etiology of the Veteran’s left hearing loss disability. Specifically, is it at least as likely as not (ia 50% or better probability) that it is etiologically related to his service (to include as due to his exposure to noise therein)? 
If the left ear hearing loss is found to be unrelated to service, identify the etiology for the disability considered more likely (and explain why that is so). [Note that under governing caselaw the absence of a hearing loss at separation cannot be the sole basis for a denial of service connection.]
(b) Report the findings on official audiometry. Elicit from the Veteran a description of the impact his hearing loss has on daily activity functioning, and comment whether the account is consistent with the audiometric findings (and on the impact the level of hearing impairment shown by audiometry would be expected to have on occupational functioning). 
Include rationale with all opinions. 
 
GEORGE R. SENYK
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	E. Robert Cordingley, Associate Counsel