Citation Nr: 21002813
Decision Date: 01/15/21	Archive Date: 01/15/21

DOCKET NO. 17-58 980
DATE: January 15, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to an initial compensable rating in excess of 0 percent for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 rating decision that assigned an initial noncompensable rating for left ear hearing loss. The Veteran testified before the undersigned in a June 2020 hearing. 

At the June 2020 hearing, the Veteran testified that he had undergone two audiological examinations at the Augusta VA Medical Center in 2019 and 2020 which supported his claim that his bilateral hearing loss disability had increased to a compensable rate. However, neither of these examinations noted having used the Maryland CNC test in their assessment of the Veteran’s hearing. VA requires that the Maryland CNC test be used in hearing loss examinations, and hearing examinations conducted without using this metric are considered inadequate for VA rating purposes. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.385, 4.85. No confirmation of use the Maryland CNC test was ever provided, rendering those two examinations inadequate. Nonetheless, the Veteran contends that his hearing loss has worsened since the last adequate VA evaluation in 2014.  Accordingly, the Board finds a new VA audiological examination is necessary to assess the current severity of the Veteran’s service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006).

The matter is REMANDED for the following actions:

1. Associate any outstanding VA treatment records with the claims file, including any outstanding audiological examinations performed in 2019 and 2020.

2. Schedule the Veteran for a new VA examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his bilateral hearing loss disability. 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. 

The examiner is advised that the Veteran is competent to report his symptoms and history, and such reports must be specifically acknowledged and considered in formulating any opinion. If the examiner rejects the Veteran's reports, he or she must provide a reason for doing so.

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All findings must be reported in detail and all opinions must be accompanied by a clear rationale. If any of the above issues cannot be resolved without resorting to speculation, then a detailed medical explanation as to why this is so must be provided.

 

 

M. HYLAND

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Narnor, Harriyah

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.