Citation Nr: 21064474 Decision Date: 10/20/21 Archive Date: 10/20/21 DOCKET NO. 14-23 720 DATE: October 20, 2021 ORDER Service connection for right ear hearing loss is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence of record supports a finding that the Veteran's right ear hearing loss onset during his active service and has continued since then. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for right ear hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 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 training (ACDUTRA) from November 1977 to March 1978. He also had active-duty service from May 1980 to February 1982 but is not eligible for benefits during this period due to a bad conduct discharge. This current matter was first before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) in April 2018, when it was remanded for further development. Then, in February 2020, the Board denied the claim for service connection for right ear hearing loss. The Veteran appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court), and, in a December 2020 Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), the Court vacated the February 2020 Board decision and remanded the claim for development and readjudication consistent with the December 2020 JMR. The Veteran was scheduled for a virtual tele-hearing with a Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) in September 2021. However, on the day of the hearing, the Veteran's representative appeared before the undersigned VLJ and expressed the Veteran's desire to cancel the hearing. Thus, his Board hearing request is considered withdrawn. 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(e). Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection requires competent evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) the incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury during service; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Additionally, service connection can also be established through application of a statutory presumption for chronic diseases, including organic diseases of the nervous system, such as hearing loss, when manifested to a compensable degree within a year of separation from service. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. If a chronic disease is not manifested to a compensable degree within a year of separation of service, then, generally, a showing of "continuity of symptoms" after service is required for service connection. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(b). Furthermore, a layperson is competent to report on the onset and continuity of his or her current symptomatology. Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994) (a veteran is competent to report on that of which he or she has personal knowledge). In the current appeal, the Veteran contends that his right ear hearing loss began during his active service. As an initial matter, the Board notes that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss sufficient for VA compensation purposes. See August 2019 VA examination; 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. Further, his in-service noise exposure has been conceded, and he is currently service connected for left ear hearing loss and for tinnitus. As both the current disability and in-service event elements of the claim have been met, the only question remaining before the Board is whether there is a causal relationship between his current right ear hearing loss disability and his active service. In this regard, the Board notes that the Veteran has consistently stated that his hearing loss began during his service. As noted above, as a layperson the Veteran is competent to report on the onset and continuity of his current symptomatology. Layno, 6 Vet. App. at 470. Thus, the Board finds his competent lay statements as to the onset of his right ear hearing loss to be credible. Further, there are no medical opinions, or any other evidence of record, that preponderates against the claim. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in August 2019 wherein he was diagnosed with bilateral hearing loss. However, for reasons previously discussed in the JMR, the examiner's medical opinion and rationale regarding the etiology of the Veteran's hearing loss is inadequate and carries no probative weight. Given the above, the Board finds that the weight of the evidence is sufficient to show a medical nexus between the Veteran's right ear hearing loss and his conceded in-service hazardous noise exposure. Accordingly, service connection for the Veteran's right ear hearing loss is granted. THERESA M. CATINO Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Benson, 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.