Citation Nr: 21063175
Decision Date: 10/13/21	Archive Date: 10/13/21

DOCKET NO. 13-26 315
DATE: October 13, 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 served on active duty from November 1967 to November 1969. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2012 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

The Board issued a decision on this matter in July 2020, denying the claims. The Veteran appealed the decision to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). Pursuant to a joint motion for remand (JMR) granted by the Court in June 2021, the July 2020 decision was vacated, and the matter was remanded to obtain an adequate VA examination that evaluates the Veteran's lay statements. Specifically, the parties agreed that the July 2020 Board decision erred in relying on an inadequate VA examination that failed to consider the Veteran's reports of in-service hearing loss and tinnitus. 

Pursuant to the JMR, the Board finds that remand is necessary to obtain an adequate VA examination.

The February 2020 VA opinion did not address the Veteran's lay statements regarding the onset of his hearing loss and tinnitus during service. The February 2020 VA examiner documented that the Veteran did not report hearing loss or tinnitus during service and reported, in 2011, that he had hearing problems in the last two years and tinnitus a year before that. The examiner did not address or reconcile the Veteran's lay statements reporting an onset of symptoms during service made both his April 2017 Board hearing testimony and his October 2011 Statement in Support of Claim. 

Upon remand, the VA examiner must address the Veteran's lay statements that his hearing loss and tinnitus began during service, as reported at the April 2017 Board hearing and in his October 2011 Statement in Support of Claim. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records from September 2020 to present. 

2. Return the claims file to the February 2020 VA examiner, or another VA examiner if she is not available, to obtain an addendum medical opinion that complies with the Board's remand directives. 

The examiner should review the claims file, specifically including this remand and the Veteran's lay statements from his October 2011 Statement in Support of Claim and the April 2017 Board hearing, and respond to the following:

(a.) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss began during or is otherwise related to service?

(b.) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran's tinnitus began during or is otherwise related to service?

All opinions must be accompanied by a rationale consistent with the evidence of record that specifically addresses the Veteran's lay statements. A discussion of the pertinent evidence, relevant medical treatises, and generally accepted medical principles is required

 

 

MICHELLE L. KANE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Tierno

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.