Citation Nr: 18123772
Decision Date: 08/03/18	Archive Date: 08/02/18

DOCKET NO. 15-20 994
DATE:	August 3, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active service from December 1977 to December 1981.  
Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus are remanded.
The Veteran asserts that he has developed bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus that are manifested as a result of his period of active service.  He contends that his naval service in a ship’s engine room for a two-year period without hearing protection resulting in acoustic trauma.  He has added that he experienced bilateral hearing loss ever since.
A VA examination report dated in June 2013 shows that the VA examiner concluded that the Veteran’s current bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus were not the result of active service, as the Veteran had demonstrated normal hearing both at entrance and separation examinations without evidence of aggravation.
A review of the Veteran’s service treatment records, however, shows that there was a shift in auditory threshold in the left ear from service entrance to separation from 15 decibels at 4000 Hertz on December 1977 to 25 decibels on September 1981, and 30 decibels on September 1980.  Moreover, there was a shift in auditory threshold in the right ear from 5 decibels at 4000 Hertz on December 1977 to 15 decibels on September 1981.  In his December 1981 separation report of medical history, the Veteran indicated that he did not know if he had experienced hearing loss. 
As the service treatment records do demonstrate a shift in auditory threshold during active service, and as the Veteran contemporaneously indicated that he was unsure whether he was experiencing bilateral hearing loss, the Board finds that the June 2013 opinion of the VA examiner is of limited probative value.
Additionally, review of the Veteran’s claims file reveals that he sustained a traumatic head injury during his period of active service.  An opinion must also be obtained as to whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss and/or tinnitus are etiologically related to the traumatic head injury.  As such, a new examination is required.
The matters are REMANDED for the following action:
Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the nature and etiology of any bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.  
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The examiner must opine whether it is at least as likely as not related to an in-service injury, event, or disease, including the shift in auditory threshold in each ear at 4000 Hertz during active service, and the traumatic head injury sustained in service.
 
DAVID GRATZ
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	D. Orfanoudis, Counsel