Citation Nr: 21064230 Decision Date: 10/19/21 Archive Date: 10/19/21 DOCKET NO. 14-22 184 DATE: October 19, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran does not have current hearing loss in her left ear to an extent recognized as a disability for VA purposes. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 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 Navy from January 1997 to January 2001. This case comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2013 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in August 2017. The Board remanded the claim in January 2018 and April 2020. Notably, during the pendency of this appeal, an August 2020 rating decision awarded service connection for cervical strain, a left ankle disability, and a bilateral knee disability. These issues are accordingly not in appellate status. 1. Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is denied. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Establishing service connection generally requires evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Certain chronic disabilities, including sensorineural hearing loss, may be presumed to have been incurred in service when manifest to a compensable degree within one year of discharge from active duty. 38 U.S.C. § 1112; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. The option of establishing service connection through a demonstration of continuity of symptomatology is specifically limited to the chronic disabilities listed in 38 C.F.R. § 3.309(a). See 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b); Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). For the 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 (Hz) is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of those frequencies 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. The Veteran indicates that her hearing loss is the result of exposure to acoustic trauma while in service. Her in-service noise exposure is not in dispute. However, upon review of the record, the Board finds that service connection for left ear hearing loss is not warranted because the competent and credible evidence indicates that the Veteran has not been diagnosed with left ear hearing loss for VA purposes at any point just prior to or during the appeal period beginning in June 2012. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in August 2016. Speech audiometry revealed a Maryland CNC speech discrimination score of 100 percent in the left ear and revealed the following pure tone thresholds, in decibels: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 LEFT 0 5 10 10 0 The Veteran was afforded another VA examination in August 2020. Speech audiometry revealed a Maryland CNC speech discrimination score of 98 percent in the left ear and revealed the following pure tone thresholds, in decibels: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 LEFT 10 15 20 15 15 These findings do not demonstrate left ear hearing loss for VA compensation purposes. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. Moreover, given the lack of current hearing loss, to include within the one-year period following service separation, presumptive service connection is not available. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303(b), 3.307(a), 3.309(a). To the extent the Veteran asserts that she has left ear hearing loss, although she is competent to report the symptoms she observes, such as decreased hearing ability, she is not competent to report a hearing loss disability, because such a determination requires specific audiometric findings. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Accordingly, the preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss based on lack of a current disability. Thus, as the first element of service connection is not met at any point just prior to or during the appeal period, the claim fails on this basis alone. See Brammer v. Derwinski, 3 Vet. App. 223, 225 (1992) (in the absence of proof of present disability there can be no successful claim); see also Degmetich v. Brown, 104 F.3d 1328 (1997) (also interpreting 38 U.S.C. § 1131 as requiring the existence of a present disability for VA compensation purposes). S. BUSH Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board S.S. Mahoney 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.