Citation Nr: 20060752
Decision Date: 09/15/20	Archive Date: 09/15/20

DOCKET NO. 14-34 259A
DATE: September 15, 2020

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran had active service from September 1964 to August 1968.  He testified before a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) who is no longer with the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) during an August 2015 hearing.  This matter is on appeal from a January 2013 rating decision.

This case was remanded by the Board in March 2017.  In January 2018, the Veteran was informed that the VLJ who held his hearing was no longer with the Board; in February 2018, the Veteran declined to have a new hearing.  This issue was then denied in a November 2018 decision.  The Veteran thereafter appealed the Board’s decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court).  In a January 2020 Memorandum Decision, the Court set aside the Board’s decision as to this issue and remanded the case for readjudication consistent with the decision.

Following the Memorandum Decision, the Veteran submitted additional evidence in July 2020.  He specifically requested that his case be sent back to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) for review of this evidence.  Therefore, remand is necessary.  Further, the Board concludes that a new VA examination would be beneficial to determine if the Veteran’s left hearing loss meets VA’s definition of hearing loss.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Schedule the Veteran for a VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine if the Veteran has a left ear hearing loss disability as defined by VA.  If so, the examiner should opine whether such disability is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or greater probability) that such disability is etiologically related to service.  The examiner is also requested to interpret the graph results of a private October 2019 audiogram.  All opinions must be supported by a rationale.

2. Review all evidence submitted since the November 2017 Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC), including the evidence submitted by the Veteran in July 2020, and readjudicate his claim of entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss. 

 

 

A. C. MACKENZIE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	L. Barstow, 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.