Citation Nr: 18158764
Decision Date: 12/18/18	Archive Date: 12/17/18

DOCKET NO. 18-03 514
DATE:	December 18, 2018
REMANDED
Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim of entitlement to tinnitus is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty from May 1962 to June 1988.
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2017 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Manchester, New Hampshire, which declined to reopen the Veteran’s claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.  The Veteran disagreed with the decision and perfected a timely appeal in January 2018.
 

1. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
2. Whether new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen a claim of entitlement to tinnitus is remanded.
The Veteran seeks to reopen his claims of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.
In his January 2018 VA Form 9, the Veteran reported that he has been receiving treatment at Pikes Peak Audiology in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  He indicated that his treatment provider told him that hearing loss may become worse over time due to hazards experienced in the military.  See the VA Form 9 dated January 2018.  The Veteran indicated that the records from Pikes Peak Audiology should have been submitted by his representative; however, these records have not been associated with the Veteran’s VA claims file.  As these private treatment records are pertinent to the pending appeal, the Board finds that the matters on appeal must be remanded for the outstanding records to be obtained and associated with the Veteran’s claims file.
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
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After obtaining the appropriate release of information forms where necessary, procure any records of outstanding treatment that the Veteran has recently received.  The Board is particularly interested in records of treatment that the Veteran received from Pikes Peak Audiology (referenced above), as well as any VA health care facility since September 2010.  All such available documents should be associated with the claims file
 
K. CONNER
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	K. K. Buckley, Counsel