Citation Nr: 20002192
Decision Date: 01/09/20	Archive Date: 01/09/20

DOCKET NO. 16-37 652
DATE: January 9, 2020

REMANDED

The claim for a compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from April 1972 to July 1973.

In connection with this appeal, the Veteran testified at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in December 2019.

The Veteran asserts that he has significant difficulty hearing.  The Veteran stated that his hearing problems have led to others requesting that he turn down the television volume and concerns for his safety when doing activities such as crossing the street.

The two most recent VA examinations of record, March 2016 and May 2016, were inadequate for rating purposes as the Veteran’s puretone thresholds could not be measured.  In this case, the record contains insufficient medical evidence for the Board to render a decision in this case.  Accordingly, a remand is warranted to evaluate the nature and severity of the Veteran’s hearing loss.  

In remanding this claim, the Veteran is informed that this testing is critical to the processing of his claim, and that without consistent results on the scheduled test, VA will be unable to assign a compensable rating.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

Schedule the Veteran for an examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.  The examiner should provide a full description of the disability and report all signs and symptoms necessary for evaluating the Veteran’s disability under the rating criteria.    

 

 

MATTHEW W. BLACKWELDER

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	R. I. Sims

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 This decision is not precedential, and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.