Citation Nr: 18129802
Decision Date: 08/28/18	Archive Date: 08/28/18

DOCKET NO. 17-04 917A
DATE:	August 28, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Army from November 1960 to November 1962.  This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2014 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
1. Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.
The Veteran seeks an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss.  Remand is required for a new VA examination and to obtain outstanding records.
VA’s duty to assist requires providing a veteran with a contemporaneous medical examination when the veteran asserts, or the evidence indicates, that a service-connected disability worsened since the last VA medical examination was conducted and the record does not adequately reveal the current state of the veteran’s disability.  Palczewski v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 174, 182-83 (2007); see 38 C.F.R. § 3.327(a).  
Here, the Veteran last underwent a VA examination in July 2016.  An October 2016 audiological evaluation demonstrated a worsening of the bilateral hearing loss.  VA treatment record (10/14/2016) (showing puretone threshold average of 60 decibels in the right ear and 58 decibels in the left ear, and Maryland CNC speech discrimination scores of 80 percent bilaterally).  In his January 2017 substantive appeal, the Veteran reported his hearing continues to worsen.  The record does not contain a more recent audiological evaluation.  Accordingly, there is competent evidence that the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss has worsened and the record does not reveal its current state.  Remand is required for reexamination.  38 C.F.R. § 3.327(a).
A review of the Veteran’s VA medical records shows he underwent audiological testing on the following dates: 12/13/2012, 11/16/2014, and 1/29/2015.  The objective test results associated with those evaluations are not associated with the record.  These audiograms should be obtained and added to the Veteran’s file.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding VA treatment records.
2. Obtain and associate with the claims file audiograms associated with VA testing conducted on the following dates: 12/13/2012, 11/16/2014, and 1/29/2015.  
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3. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to determine the current severity of his bilateral hearing loss.  The examiner must review the entire claims file, to include a copy of this REMAND, in conjunction with the examination.
 
D. JOHNSON
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Mike A. Sobiecki, Associate Counsel