Citation Nr: 19136455 Decision Date: 05/10/19 Archive Date: 05/10/19 DOCKET NO. 17-61 442 DATE: May 10, 2019 ORDER Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. FINDING OF FACT The weight of the evidence shows that it is more likely than not that the Veteran was exposed to military noise during his service, records show a significant threshold shift in his hearing acuity at separation, and he has credibly reported perceiving gradual hearing deterioration until he was clinically diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss continuing to this day. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.309, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran honorably served on active duty from June 1966 to May 1968, to include his tour of duty in the Republic of Vietnam. In May 2017, the Veteran filed his claim of entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. At that time, VA conceded his acoustic trauma due to military noise exposure and confirmed the existence of his hearing disability for VA purposes. But a May 2017 VA examination report reflects a negative nexus opinion, based on which the Regional Office denied service connection in its June 2017 rating decision. The Veteran appealed that rating action, contending that he was exposed to military noise during his service and first noticed his hearing loss at that time which has continued to decline ever since until he was clinically diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. The Veteran is competent to report his exposure to acoustic trauma. See Falzone v. Brown, 8 Vet. App. 398, 403 (1995). Likewise, he is competent to report the hearing loss symptoms perceivable by a lay person without specialized training, knowledge, or experience. See Charles v. Principi, 16 Vet. App. 370, 374 (2002). In his original May 2017 claim, the Veteran competently reported that his “bilateral hearing loss began in service, continuous since service, still exist today.” The Veteran’s competent statement concerning his hearing loss is consistent with and uncontradicted by the evidence of record, to include his Notice of Disagreement received in June 2017 and the VA Form 646 received in November 2017. Of note, although the Veteran’s service treatment records are devoid of references to, reported complaints of, or treatment for any symptoms associated with hearing loss, his May 1968 separation audiology report in contrast to the April 1966 audiological data recorded at entrance reflects a significant positive threshold shift in his hearing acuity, as follows. Entrance HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 10 0 0 X 0 LEFT 0 0 0 X 0 Separation HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 5 5 5 X 5 LEFT 10 10 0 X 0 No less importantly, between January 1, 1967 and December 31, 1970, military transitioned to new audiometric measurement standards. Considering that the Veteran’s audiometry at separation was tested in May 1968 and given that this audiology report does not specify which of the American Standards Association (ASA) units or International Standards Organization-American National Standards Institute (ISO-ANSI) units were recorded, a conversion from ASA to ISO-ANSI units is appropriate in this case. The conversion yields the follow data. Separation HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 20 15 15 X 10 LEFT 25 20 10 X 5 This converted data shows a significant positive threshold shift in the Veteran’s hearing acuity, which also supports his assertion that his hearing loss may have begun in service. While this data alone is insufficient to conclusively establish a hearing loss disability under the regulatory thresholds for a “disability due to hearing impairment” for VA purposes, this data strongly suggests the onset of hearing impairment during service. Ultimately, the normal hearing range falls between 0dB and 20dB on a puretone audiometry test, and any higher threshold levels indicate some degree of hearing loss. Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155, 157 (1993). As such, it is at least as likely as not that the Veteran incurred his current bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in service due to his military noise exposure. Service connection shall be granted for an existing chronic disease incurred during service. See 38 U.S.C. § 1110. Moreover, service connection for certain organic diseases of nervous system, to include sensorineural hearing loss, may be granted even if such a disease was clinically diagnosed many years after separation from service, when the weight of the evidence shows that it is at least as likely as not that the associated symptomatology of that disease had begun in service and has continued through the time of clinical diagnosis of the resulting chronic disability. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b), 3.309(a). This is precisely the case here, as shown by the evidence of record, to include the Veteran’s competent and credible account of experiencing the initial signs of hearing loss in service, then having the associated symptomatology continue through the time he was clinically diagnosed with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss which continues to the present day. Accordingly, service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD A. Bardin, Associate Counsel