Citation Nr: 21002956 Decision Date: 01/19/21 Archive Date: 01/19/21 DOCKET NO. 18-14 716 DATE: January 19, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran has active service from February 1959 to January 1961, with prior National Guard service from October 1955 to April 1956. This case is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a January 2018 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Board issued a decision denying these claims in September 2018. The Veteran appealed the denial to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). By July 2019 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), the Court vacated the portion of the Board’s September 2018 decision denying service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus and remanded the issues to the Board. In September 2019 and July 2020, the Board remanded the matters to the AOJ for additional development. Since the prior remand, the Veteran has been awarded service connection for Meniere’s Syndrome (1/05/2021 Rating Decision - Codesheet). The record does not include a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran’s current diagnoses of hearing loss and tinnitus are secondarily related to his service-connected Meniere’s Syndrome. The Board appreciates that both hearing loss and tinnitus are contemplated in the disability rating for Meniere’s Syndrome. It is possible, however, that separate ratings for hearing loss and tinnitus, in conjunction with other disabilities contemplated by Meniere’s Syndrome, could also yield a 100 percent rating and that such multiple ratings may prove more beneficial. Accordingly, remand is required to obtain an opinion as to whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss or tinnitus are secondarily related to, or were aggravated by, service-connected Meniere’s Syndrome. The Board notes that, upon return, both direct and secondary service connection will be addressed. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Forward the claims file to an appropriately qualified clinician for an addendum opinion consistent with this remand. If the following cannot be addressed without an examination, an examination should be scheduled. The examiner should provide an opinion as to whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss and/or tinnitus is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability) proximately due to service-connected Meniere’s Syndrome. If not, then the examiner should address whether it is as likely as not (50 percent probability) that the Veteran’s service-connected Meniere’s Syndrome has aggravated either his bilateral hearing loss or his tinnitus beyond its natural progression. If aggravation is found, the examiner should identify baseline level of the Veteran’s hearing loss and/or tinnitus prior to such aggravation. The examiner should reconcile any conflicting medical evidence of record to the extent possible. The examiner must provide all findings, along with a complete rationale for his or her opinion(s) in the examination report. If any of the above requested opinions cannot be made without resort to speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is due to a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (no one could respond given medical science and the known facts), a deficiency in the record (additional facts are required), or the examiner (does not have the knowledge or training). Eric S. Leboff Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board P. A. Myers 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.