Citation Nr: 21070735
Decision Date: 11/24/21	Archive Date: 11/24/21

DOCKET NO. 17-50 380A
DATE: November 24, 2021

REMANDED

The issue of entitlement to an increased evaluation for service-connected bilateral hearing loss (BHL) is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from May 1977 to September 1997.

In November 2021, the Veteran testified under oath before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a virtual hearing.

Entitlement to an increased evaluation for service-connected BHL is remanded.

The Board finds that additional development is needed prior to final adjudication.  At the November 2021 virtual hearing, the Veteran described a worsening of his disability since his last VA examination.  Accordingly, in order to adequately evaluate the severity of the Veteran's symptoms, a new VA examination is needed.  See Snuffer v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 400, 403 (1997).

Accordingly, the appeal is REMANDED for the following action:

1. After securing any necessary consent forms from the Veteran, obtain any outstanding treatment records, to include any VA and/or private treatment records, pertaining to the issues on appeal.  All efforts to obtain these records should be documented in the claim file.  If any records could not be obtained, this should be noted in the claim file.

2. Upon completion of the above, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination to evaluate the current severity of the service-connected BHL disability on appeal.

The VA examiner should be given access to the claim file.  The examiner should state that a review of the claim file was completed.  The examiner must provide a comprehensive report including complete rationales for all opinions and conclusions reached, citing the objective medical findings leading to the conclusions.  A detailed rationale is requested for all opinions provided.

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3. If upon completion of the above action the issue is denied, the case should be returned to the Board after compliance with appellate procedures.

 

 

E. I. VELEZ

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	K. Foster, 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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.