Citation Nr: 18161231 Decision Date: 12/31/18 Archive Date: 12/31/18 DOCKET NO. 10-08 538 DATE: December 31, 2018 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from May 1976 to May 1979. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of the July 2011 rating decision by the Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before a Veteran’s Law Judge (VLJ) in June 2014. As that VLJ no longer works for the Board, the Veteran was offered a second hearing and testified before the undersigned at a February 2017 hearing. A transcript of both hearings are of record. 1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. In August 2014 this matter was before the Board on the Veteran’s request to reopen and grant service connection for this claim. The Board remanded with instructions for the RO to issue a statement of the case (SOC) for the issue of entitlement to service connection for tinnitus; to seek records of audiological testing from October 2010, October 2011, and July 2012; to seek VA treatment records from before 2004, from March 2005 to October 2010, from September 2008 to October 2010, and from June 2013 to present; and to seek records from the Social Security Administration (SSA). This matter then returned to the Board in September 2017. At that time, the Board remanded the issue of service connection back to the RO to obtain an addendum opinion to address March 1978 audiological testing results which indicated the Veteran’s hearing thresholds as being higher than both the entry and separation examinations, as well as to address lay statements submitted by the Veteran’s wife and his friend. An addendum opinion was obtained in July 2018. The VA examiner stated that a March 1978 audiogram could not be found. See VA Examination dated July 2018. However, there is in fact a March 1978 audiogram in his service treatment records. See Service Treatment Records dated March 1978. The March 1978 audiogram indicates hearing loss with pure tone threshold, in decibels, as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 25 30 25 10 10 LEFT 25 5 10 15 25 Therefore, the Board finds that the RO has not substantially complied with its September 2017 remand order and a remand for another addendum opinion is warranted. See 38 U.S.C. § 5103A(b); Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Arrange for the claims file to be reviewed by the VA examiner who prepared the July 2018 VA examination report (or a suitable substitute if that VA examiner is unavailable) for the purpose of preparing an addendum opinion to the report. An examination is not required unless it is determined that another examination is needed to provide the requested opinion. The VA examiner should offer the following opinion with supporting rationale: Was the Veteran’s bilateral sensorineural hearing loss at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) incurred in or caused by his active service? The rationale provided should discuss the March 1978 audiological testing results from the Veteran’s STRs. If the examiner cannot find these test results in the file, the results are transcribed in this REMAND above. A rationale should be provided. 3. Thereafter, readjudicate the issues on appeal. R. FEINBERG Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD S. Bognar, Associate Counsel