Citation Nr: 18161339 Decision Date: 12/31/18 Archive Date: 12/31/18 DOCKET NO. 17-03 791 DATE: December 31, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is denied. Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The most probative evidence of record does not establish that the Veteran has left ear hearing loss for VA purposes. 2. Resolving all reasonable doubt in his favor, the Veteran’s right ear hearing loss was due to the acoustic trauma during service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309, 3.385 (2018). 2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1110, 1112, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran had active duty service from December 1968 to November 1972. Service Connection Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Direct service connection may not be granted without evidence of a current disability; in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disease or injury. Id.; see also Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 506 (1995) aff’d, 78 F.3d 604 (Fed. Cir. 1996) [(table)]. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. Based on a review of the evidence, the Board finds that service connection for left ear hearing loss is not warranted; however, service connection for right ear hearing loss is warranted. Regarding the Veteran’s left ear hearing loss, the Board notes that on audiological evaluation in January 2016, pure tone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 20 20 25 25 35 LEFT 10 20 25 35 30 Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 100 percent in the right ear and of 98 percent in the left ear. The Veteran was again afforded another VA examination in March 2017. On audiological evaluation, pure tone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 20 15 20 30 40 LEFT 20 15 15 30 35 Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 95 percent in the right ear and of 100 percent in the left ear. Simply put, this shows that the Veteran’s left ear did not have hearing loss within the range considered to be a disability for VA purposes. Impaired hearing is considered a disability for VA purposes when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies of 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz is 40 decibels or greater; the thresholds for at least three of these frequencies are 26 or greater; or when speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test are less than 94 percent. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. As the Veteran did not meet any of this criteria for the left ear during the appeal period, the Board must conclude the Veteran does not currently suffer from a left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes. Without competent evidence of a diagnosis, for VA purposes, there is no disability for which service connection can be granted, and the Board must deny the Veteran’s claim for left ear hearing loss. The Board acknowledges that the Veteran has demonstrated some degree of hearing loss in his left ear. However, it does not yet rise to the level to be considered a disability for VA purposes. This decision denying service connection for left ear hearing loss based on no current disability for VA purposes does not preclude the Veteran from filing a claim to reopen at a later date if his hearing acuity decreases in his left ear. Regarding the Veteran’s right ear, however, the Board finds that service connection is warranted. Specifically, as noted above, on VA examination in March 2017, the Veteran had an auditory threshold of 40 at 4000 Hz. Therefore, he has hearing loss for VA purposes in his right ear and the first element of service connection is met. In addition, service personnel records show that during service, he worked on the flight line where he worked in small quarters with air-hammers against steel. As noted by the January 2016 VA examiner, there was a significant threshold shift on separation in comparison to entrance audiometry. As such, the Board finds that the second element of service connection has been met. Finally, for the nexus element, the January 2016 VA examiner provided a positive nexus opinion linking the Veteran’s right ear hearing loss to service. The January 2016 VA examiner essentially stated that given the threshold shift in-service and the Veteran’s significant acoustic trauma exposure, his hearing loss was more likely than not due to service. Then in March 2017, the VA examiner provided a negative nexus opinion. The examiner essentially stated that despite the threshold shifts, the Veteran separated service with normal hearing sensitivity, there were many years between the Veteran’s diagnosis of hearing loss and service, and given his reports of a gradual onset of hearing loss, it was less likely than not that his hearing loss was related to service. When balancing these two opinions, the Board finds that the evidence is in at least relative equipoise. (Continued on the next page)   Resolving all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that service connection is warranted for right ear hearing loss. H.M. WALKER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Martha R. Luboch, Associate Counsel