Citation Nr: 21004456 Decision Date: 01/27/21 Archive Date: 01/27/21 DOCKET NO. 16-13 452 DATE: January 27, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from January1973 to January1976. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a December 2015 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran appeared at a Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in March 2019. A transcript of the hearing is in the Veteran’s file. In July 2019, the Board denied the claim. The Veteran appealed the denial to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a July 2020 Joint Motion for Remand, (JMR) the Court vacated the Board's July 2019 decision and remanded the issue to the Board for further development. Entitlement to service connection for hearing loss is remanded. Among other things, the JMR suggested a conflict existed between the October 2016 medical opinion relied on by the Board to deny the claim, and the holding in McCray v. Wilkie, 31 Vet. App. 243 (2019). In McCray, the Court held that when the Board relies on a negative medical opinion, it must address the Veteran’s arguments challenging the medical text supporting that opinion and assess the existence and impact of features of the underlying medical text evidence that may affect the probative value and adequacy of the medical opinion. The JMR suggests the 2016 examiner’s conclusion was not in line with the entirety of the medical treatise on which it was primarily based. In view of this, further opinion should be sought. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Ask the Veteran to identify any additional relevant records he wishes considered regarding this appeal, which records should be sought. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an appropriate VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any diagnosed bilateral hearing loss. Specifically, the examiner should opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability is related to noise exposure in service. Any indicated evaluations, studies and tests should be conducted, and the examiner should take a history from the Veteran as to the onset and progression of his bilateral hearing loss, to include post-service noise exposure. The examiner should also consider and discuss the medical article concerning the acceleration of age-related hearing loss by early noise exposure in animals submitted by the Veteran, including its strengths and limitations. Further, any opinion based on the 2006 Institute of Medicine (IOM) Report findings regarding delayed-onset hearing loss must address the strength and limitations of that report. A complete rationale must be provided for all opinions expressed. If an opinion cannot be offered without resort to mere speculation, the examiner must indicate why this is the case and what additional evidence, if any, would allow for a more definitive opinion. 3. Readjudicate the claim. M. KILCOYNE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board B. Jaigirdar, Associate 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.