Citation Nr: 19151007 Decision Date: 07/02/19 Archive Date: 07/01/19 DOCKET NO. 13-33 810A DATE: July 2, 2019 ORDER Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran is not shown to have a hearing disability in either ear for VA purposes. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss have not been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had active service from June 1987 to September 1987. Service Connection Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection requires competent evidence showing: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may also be established under 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b), where a condition in service is noted but is not, in fact, chronic, or where a diagnosis of chronicity may be legitimately questioned. The continuity of symptomatology provision of 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b) has been interpreted as an alternative to service connection only for the specific chronic diseases listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). See Walker v. Shinseki, 718 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). Service connection may also be established with certain chronic diseases based upon a legal presumption by showing that the disorder manifested itself to a degree of 10 percent disabling or more within one year from the date of separation from service. Such disease shall be presumed to have been incurred in service, even though there is no evidence of such disease during the period of service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309(a). While the disease need not be diagnosed within the presumption period, it must be shown, by acceptable lay or medical evidence, that there were characteristic manifestations of the disease to the required degree during that time. The Veteran filed a request to reopen his service connection claim for bilateral hearing loss, which was denied by a January 2013 rating decision. The Board reopened his service connection claim for bilateral hearing loss in a December 2017 Board decision and remanded the claim for further development. For the purposes of applying VA laws, impaired hearing will be considered to be a disability when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 hertz are 26 decibels or greater; or when the speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test are less than 94 percent. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. The Veteran’s STRs show that an audiological examination conducted at his March 1986 entrance physical did not show hearing loss for VA purposes, and he denied having any ear trouble or hearing loss. The Veteran’s STRs do not show any complaints, treatment, or diagnosis for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran’s STRs from his reserve service show that an audiological examination conducted in July 1990 did not show hearing loss for VA purposes, and in fact showed improvements at most Hertz levels. In addition, he continued to deny having any ear trouble or hearing loss. In February 2018, the Veteran was afforded a VA examination. Audiological testing did not show hearing loss for VA purposes. The Veteran has not submitted any medical evidence supporting his assertion that he has a diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss or any medical evidence supporting his assertion that any bilateral hearing loss is due to or the result of his active service. In the absence of proof of a current disability, there can be no valid claim for service connection. Boyer v. West, 210 F.3d 1351, 1353 (Fed. Cir. 2000); Giplin v. West, 155 F.3d 1353 (Fed. Cir. 1998); Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992). The requirement that a current disability be present is satisfied “when a claimant has a disability at the time a claim for VA disability compensation is filed or during the pendency of that claim...even though the disability resolves prior to the Secretary’s adjudication of the claim.” McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319 (2007); see also Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289 (2013). The Board finds that evidence of a present hearing loss disability has not been presented; and, in the absence of proof of a present disability, there can be no valid claim. Brammer, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225. The claim of entitlement to service connection for hearing loss is denied. (Continued on the next page)   Accordingly, the criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss have not been met, and the Veteran’s claim is denied. KELLI A. KORDICH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD T. Berryman, Counsel