Citation Nr: 20042389 Decision Date: 06/23/20 Archive Date: 06/23/20 DOCKET NO. 18-25 586A DATE: June 23, 2020 REMANDED Service connection for hearing loss of the left ear is remanded. Service connection for tinnitus is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served honorably in the United States Marine Corps from August 1968 to August 1971. These matters come to the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from a November 2017 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal is being adjudicated under the legacy appellate framework. In an April 2018 substantive appeal to the Board, the Veteran indicated that he did not desire a personal hearing before the Board. 1. Service connection for hearing loss of the left ear is remanded. At issue is whether the Veteran is entitled to service connection for hearing loss of the left ear. The Veteran underwent VA examinations in July 2017 and February 2018. Unfortunately, both VA examinations indicated that a medical nexus did not exist between a current diagnosis of hearing loss of the left ear and military noise exposure. In a November 2017 notice of disagreement (NOD) as well as an April 2018 substantive appeal to the Board however, the alleged that his examinations were inadequate, because the examiner did not discuss the medical significance, if any, of the fact that during his military service he sustained severe noise exposure as member of the infantry but that since separating from service he was predominantly employed as a barber with little or no opportunity for noise exposure. Neither VA examination discussed this contention. Once VA undertakes the effort to provide the Veteran with an examination, it must provide the Veteran with an adequate one, and an adequate examination is sufficiently detailed in order to ensure that VA’s evaluation of the Veteran’s claim is fully formed. Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303 (2007). Therefore, this matter must be remanded in order to discuss the medical significance, if any, of the Veteran’s reported work history and associated hearing loss. 2. Service connection for tinnitus is remanded. The issue of service connection for tinnitus is inextricably intertwined with the Veteran’s claim for service connection for hearing loss of the left ear, and it must be remanded as well. Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180 (1991). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Arrange to provide the Veteran with a VA examination in order to discuss the following. Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or more) that a medical nexus exists between military noise exposure and hearing loss of the left ear? Why or why not? What is the medical significance, if any, of the Veteran’s contention that, as a member of the infantry, he was sustained military noise exposure, but that he sustained little if any noise   exposure while working predominantly as a barber after separating from service? Why? DAVID L. WIGHT Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board David R. Seaton, Counsel 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.