Citation Nr: 21061808 Decision Date: 10/05/21 Archive Date: 10/05/21 DOCKET NO. 19-33 314 DATE: October 5, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran, his bilateral hearing loss is related to his active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309, 3.385 REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from January 1968 to December 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a December 2017 rating decision from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss The Veteran contends his bilateral hearing loss is due to exposure to firearms and other excessive noise in service. The Veteran is service connected for tinnitus, which the Veteran contends was caused by his hearing loss. Service connection will be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C.§ 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. In addition, certain chronic diseases, including sensorineural hearing loss (as an organic disease of the nervous system), will be presumed related to service if it was shown as chronic in service; or, if it manifested to a compensable degree within a presumptive period following separation from service; or, if it was noted in service, with continuity of symptomatology since service that is attributable to the chronic disease. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309; Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2013). The threshold for normal hearing is from 0 to 20 decibels; higher threshold levels indicate some degree of hearing loss. Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155 (1993) (citing Current Medical Diagnosis & Treatment, Stephen A. Schroeder, et. al. eds., at 110-11 (1988)). But before service connection may be granted for hearing loss, it must be of a particular level of severity. For purposes of applying the laws administered by VA, impaired hearing will be considered to be a disability when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz are 26 decibels or greater; or when speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test are less than 94 percent. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. A November 2010 private audiogram showed auditory thresholds greater than 40 decibels at 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz bilaterally. On the November 2017 VA audiological evaluation, pure tone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 35 40 50 70 85 LEFT 35 40 50 60 70 As the Veteran's auditory threshold at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz is greater than 40 decibels, he has hearing loss for VA disability purposes. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. The Veteran contends he was exposed to acoustic trauma in service from shooting M14 rifles and participating in simulated battle exercises. The Veteran's DD-214 shows he qualified as a sharpshooter with the M14. Additionally, the November 2017 VA examiner noted the Veteran was exposed to excessive noise in service. Thus, the Board finds the Veteran experienced acoustic trauma in service. The Veteran competently and credibly stated in multiple correspondence to VA that he had exposure to excessive noise in service and has had hearing trouble since then. In this regard, he is competent under the law to describe what he experienced while in military service. See Washington v. Nicholson, 19 Vet. App. 362, 368 (2005); Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 307-08 (2007); Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994). Accordingly, the question for the Board is whether the Veteran's current hearing loss is related to the conceded noise exposure in service. The November 2017 VA examination opined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss was not due to service as the Veteran's hearing thresholds at the time of entrance and separation were within normal limits, and according to the American College of Occupational Medicine Noise and Hearing Conservation Committee, "a noise induced hearing loss will not progress once it is stopped." However, the Board finds this opinion of no probative value as it failed to adequately address the lay statements of record regarding continued hearing loss since service and relied solely on the lack of hearing loss shown by service treatment records. Service connection for hearing loss is not precluded if there is sufficient evidence to demonstrate a relationship between the Veteran's service and his current hearing disability. Hensley, 5 Vet. App. 155. Here, the Veteran has competently and credibly asserted that his hearing difficulties began less than one year after service and continue to present day. Additionally, in a buddy statement received in December 2018, the Veteran's long-time friend reporting noticing that the Veteran had trouble hearing once he returned from service. In October 2017 VA treatment records the Veteran reported tinnitus since 1969, exposure to excessive noise in service, and progressively worsening hearing loss. Upon review of the record, the Board finds the evidence to at least be in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's current bilateral hearing loss is related to service. Accordingly, after resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran, the Board finds that service connection for bilateral hearing loss is warranted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Evan M. Deichert Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board K.L. Blevins, 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.