Citation Nr: 19178317 Decision Date: 10/11/19 Archive Date: 10/11/19 DOCKET NO. 10-21 053 DATE: October 11, 2019 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for a bilateral hearing loss disability, prior to March 25, 2010, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from September 1945 to August 1948. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a September 2011 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Reno, Nevada. In a November 2012 decision, the Board denied the Veteran’s claim for a compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). This resulted in an October 2013 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) which vacated the November 2012 Board decision and returned the matter to the Board. Subsequent to the October 2013 JMR, the Board remanded this issue in January 2014 and again in June 2015 for further evidentiary development. A February 2016 rating decision granted service connection for Meniere’s syndrome with a 100 percent evaluation effective March 25, 2010. In July 2016, the Board denied the Veteran’s appeal for an initial compensable evaluation for a bilateral hearing loss disability for the period prior to March 25, 2010. The Veteran appealed the Board’s July 2016 denial for an initial compensable evaluation for a bilateral hearing loss disability for the period prior to March 25, 2010, to the Court. The Court issued a Memorandum Decision in October 2017 setting aside and remanding the July 2016 Board decision that denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss prior to March 25, 2010. The Veteran died in July 2017, and the Court recalled the October 2017 Memorandum Decision in May 2018. In June 2018, the Appellant (the Veteran’s former girlfriend) requested to be substituted in the appeal because she paid for the Veteran’s funeral and burial expenses. The Appellant was substituted in the appeal in March 2019. In April 2019 the Court reissued its October 2017 Memorandum Decision, substantively unchanged, setting aside and remanding the Board’s July 2016 decision which denied an initial compensable evaluation for a bilateral hearing loss disability for the period prior to March 25, 2010. The Court stated that the Board’s July 2016 decision failed to address favorable evidence from Veteran’s medical records which noted that the Veteran suffered from dizziness since 1996 and a March 1996 medical record that noted acute or chronic dizziness. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for a bilateral hearing loss disability prior to March 25, 2010. The Appellant claims that the Veteran’s medical records show evidence of vertigo before March 25, 2010, because a February 9, 2015 treatment record notes the Veteran had a history of dizziness since 1996, and because a March 1996 medical record notes “acute or chronic dizziness.” In its July 2016 decision, the Board considered whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss disability was compensable under Diagnostic Code (DC) 6204, which applies to peripheral vestibular disorder. 38 C.F.R. § 4.87, DC 6204. Under DC 6204, a 10 percent disability evaluation is warranted for occasional dizziness, and a 30 percent evaluation is warranted where there is dizziness and occasional staggering. The note following the rating criteria provides that objective findings supporting the diagnosis of vestibular disequilibrium are required before a compensable evaluation can be assigned under DC 6204. As noted in the Court’s April 2019 Memorandum Decision, the Veteran was diagnosed with a vestibular disequilibrium disorder related to his bilateral hearing loss in March 2010. The Board finds that an addendum opinion is necessary to ascertain whether Veteran’s treatment record noting the Veteran’s history of dizziness since 1996 and the March 1996 medical record noting “acute or chronic dizziness” support an earlier diagnosis of a vestibular disequilibrium disorder for the Veteran. This matter is REMANDED for the following actions: 1. Send the Veteran’s claims file and a copy of this remand to an appropriate examiner to obtain an addendum opinion on the following: Is it “at least as likely as not” (a 50 percent probability or greater) that the objective findings in Veteran’s February 9, 2015 treatment record and the March 1996 medical record which note the Veteran’s history of dizziness and “acute or chronic dizziness” support a diagnosis of vestibular disequilibrium? 2. Readjudicate the appeal. Michael L. Marcum Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board A. St. Laurent The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.