Citation Nr: 18155288
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/03/18

DOCKET NO. 09-39 580
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Service connection for vertigo/Meniere’s disease, to include as secondary to service-connected bilateral hearing loss and/or tinnitus is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Marine Corps from August 1968 to August 1972. 
By way of background, this issue was last before the Board in August 2017 when the Board denied service connection for vertigo/Meniere’s disease, among other issues.  The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In a May 2018 Order, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand filed by the parties to vacate and remand the August 2017 Board decision, to the extent that it determined that service connection for vertigo/Meniere’s disease, to include as secondary to bilateral hearing loss and/or tinnitus, was not warranted.  
1. Service connection for Meniere’s disease, to include as secondary to service-connected hearing loss and tinnitus is remanded.
In light of the Joint Motion, the Board finds that additional development is required.  Specifically, the parties agreed in the Joint Motion that the Board erred when it relied on the November 2016 VA examination which failed to address whether the Veteran’s vertigo/Meniere’s disease was aggravated by his service connected bilateral hearing loss and/or his service connected tinnitus, as well as whether a medical opinion for direct service connection for vertigo/Meniere’s disease is warranted in light of the Veteran’s statement regarding treatment for ruptured eardrums in service.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s diagnosed vertigo/Meniere’s disease. 
The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including the Veteran’s credible lay statement that he had a blast injury to his ears, resulting in a ruptured eardrum and bleeding from his ear while in service.  The examiner is asked to address the April 2008 treatment note wherein it was reported that the Veteran’s intermittent instability, subsequently diagnosed as vertigo/Meniere’s Disease, was related to his history of a blast injury.
The examiner must opine whether it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s vertigo/Meniere’s disease (1) began during active service, (2) manifested within one year after discharge from service, or (3) was noted during service with continuity of the same symptomatology since service.
The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s vertigo/Meniere’s disease is (1) proximately due to his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and/or his service connected tinnitus disability, or (2) aggravated beyond its natural progression by his service-connected bilateral hearing loss and/or his service-connected tinnitus.
2. Then, the record should again be reviewed.  If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be furnished with a supplemental statement of the case and be given the opportunity to respond.
 
ANTHONY C. SCIRÉ, JR
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	L. Nelson, Associate Counsel