Citation Nr: 18156106 Decision Date: 12/11/18 Archive Date: 12/07/18 DOCKET NO. 14-02 200 DATE: December 11, 2018 ORDER A higher (compensable) initial disability rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss for the entire rating period is denied. FINDING OF FACT For the entire initial rating period from February 14, 2011, the bilateral hearing loss was manifested by no worse than Level I hearing acuity in the right ear and no worse than Level I hearing acuity in the left ear with speech recognition scores of 94 percent bilaterally. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for a higher (compensable) initial rating for bilateral hearing loss are not met or approximated for any period. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1155, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.3, 4.7, 4.85, Diagnostic Code (DC) 6100. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran, who is the appellant, had active service in the U.S. Marine Corps from December 1966 to December 1970. This matter is on appeal from a February 2013 rating decision. The Board finds that the duties to notify and assist the Veteran in this case have been satisfied. Neither the Veteran nor the evidence has raised any specific contentions regarding the duties to notify or assist. Initial Rating Analysis for Bilateral Hearing Loss Disability ratings are determined by the application of the VA Schedule for Rating Disabilities (Rating Schedule), 38 C.F.R. Part 4. The percentage ratings contained in the Rating Schedule represent, as far as can be practicably determined, the average impairment in earning capacity resulting from diseases and injuries incurred or aggravated during military service and their residual conditions in civil occupations. 38 U.S.C. § 1155; 38 C.F.R. § 4.1. Where there is a question as to which of two ratings shall be applied, the higher rating will be assigned if the disability picture more nearly approximates the criteria for that rating. Otherwise, the lower rating will be assigned. 38 C.F.R. § 4.7. Any reasonable doubt regarding a degree of disability will be resolved in favor of the veteran. 38 C.F.R. § 4.3. For the entire initial rating period from February 14, 2011, the bilateral hearing loss is rated at 0 percent (i.e., noncompensable) under the rating criteria found at 38 C.F.R § 4.85, DC 6100. The Veteran seeks a compensable rating for the period. Hearing loss is rated under 38 C.F.R. §§ 4.85, DC 6100, Tables VI, VIA, VII of VA's rating schedule. The Rating Schedule provides a table for rating purposes (Table VI) to determine a Roman numeral designation (I through XI) for hearing impairment, established by a state-licensed audiologist including a controlled speech discrimination test (Maryland CNC), and based upon a combination of the percent of speech discrimination and the pure tone threshold average which is the sum of the pure tone thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000 and 4000 Hertz, divided by four. Table VII is used to determine the percentage evaluation by combining the Roman numeral designations for hearing impairment of each ear. 38 C.F.R. § 4.85. After review of all the lay and medical evidence of record, the Board finds that the weight of the evidence shows that an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is not warranted for any period. At the December 2012 VA audiology examination, pure tone thresholds, in decibels (dB), were recorded as follows: 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 20 50 65 55 LEFT 25 55 55 45 Pure tone threshold averages were 48 dB for the right ear and 45 dB for the left ear. Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 94 percent bilaterally. As noted above, the December 2012 VA examination report showed that the right ear demonstrated an average decibel loss of 48 and a speech recognition score of 94 percent, and the left ear an average decibel loss of 45 and a speech recognition score of 94 percent. Under the guidelines set forth in 38 C.F.R. § 4.85, the audiometric results from the December 2012 VA audiology examination reveal Level I hearing acuity in the right ear and Level I hearing acuity in the left ear when evaluating under Table VI. According to Table VII under DC 6100, a 0 percent disability rating is warranted for the level of hearing impairment demonstrated at the December 2012 VA audiology examination. Other evidence relevant to the rating period, including treatment records, does not include audiometric data showing that the severity of bilateral hearing loss disability meets the criteria for a compensable rating. The evidence of record does not indicate a material change in condition of the service-connected bilateral hearing loss since the December 2012 VA audiology examination. In consideration of the foregoing, the Board finds that a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is not warranted for any period. The Board has considered whether the Veteran or the record has raised the question of referral for an extraschedular rating adjudication under 38 C.F.R. § 3.321(b) for any period for the initial rating issue on appeal. See Thun v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 111 (2008). After review of the lay and medical evidence of record, the Board finds that the question of an extraschedular rating has not been raised by the Veteran or the record. See Doucette v. Shulkin, 28 Vet. App. 366 (2017) (confirming that the Board is not required to address issues unless they are specifically raised by the claimant or reasonably raised by the evidence of record). J. PARKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD C. Ferguson, Counsel