Citation Nr: 18155302
Decision Date: 12/04/18	Archive Date: 12/03/18

DOCKET NO. 16-46 742
DATE:	December 4, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served in the United States Army from February 1969 until his honorable discharge in December 1970.
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
Although the Board regrets the additional delay, a remand is necessary to ensure that there is a complete record on which to decide the Veteran’s claim.  Specifically, remand is required to obtain an adequate VA examination for the Veteran’s hearing loss.
Where VA provides the veteran with an examination in a service-connection claim, the examination must be adequate.  Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007).
The Veteran was afforded a VA hearing loss and tinnitus examination in October 2014.  See October 2014 VA Hearing Examination.  The examiner found that the Veteran’s tinnitus was at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) caused by or a result of military noise exposure and the examiner conceded noise exposure, specifically machine gun fire while driving trucks in convoys.  See id. at 5.  However, within the same examination, the examiner opined that there is no evidence of acoustic trauma during military service to support service connection for the Veteran’s current hearing loss.  See id. at 3.  The Board finds that the October 2014 VA examination is internally inconsistent and the opinion is inadequate.  
In addition, the examiner based the negative nexus opinion on the lack of hearing loss disability upon the Veteran’s separation from service.  However, the absence of hearing loss disability in service is not in and of itself fatal to a claim for service connection for a hearing loss disability.  Ledford v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 87, 89 (1992).  The United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155, 157 (1993) recognized that service connection for a current hearing disability is not precluded simply because hearing was within normal limits on audiometric testing at separation from service.  Rather, service connection may be awarded when there is sufficient evidence to otherwise demonstrate a relationship between the Veteran’s service and his current disability.  Id at 159-60.  In light of the above, the Board finds that the Veteran must be provided with a new VA examination which adequately addresses the likely etiology of his diagnosed bilateral hearing loss disability.  See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 304 (2008) (noting that “[i]t is the factually accurate, fully articulated, sound reasoning for the conclusion . . . that contributes probative value to a medical opinion”).
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 currently diagnosed hearing loss.
The examiner must opine whether the Veteran’s current hearing loss is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) related to an in-service injury, event, or disease.  The examiner is advised that in-service noise exposure is conceded based on the service-connected tinnitus disability. 
The examiner is advised that the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms and history, and such reports must be considered.  If the examiner rejects the Veteran’s reports, the examiner must provide a reason for doing so.
 
A. S. CARACCIOLO
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	G. DEEMER, ASSOCIATE COUNSEL