Citation Nr: 21071525
Decision Date: 11/30/21	Archive Date: 11/30/21

DOCKET NO. 18-19 006A
DATE: November 30, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to evaluation in excess of 20 percent for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from February 1980 to March 1986. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2017 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

In August 2021, the Veteran testified at a Board video conference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge.  A transcript of this hearing is of record.

1. Entitlement to evaluation in excess of 20 percent for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

The Veteran is seeking an increased evaluation for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.  At his hearing before the Board, the Veteran and his attorney asserted that the VA examination on file does not reflect the actual disabling effect of his hearing loss because it was tested at such a high level. However, testing for VA examination purposes must comply with specific requirements.  They also requested that a private audiological examination be used for rating purposes. However, the private testing in February 2017 provided the results only in uninterpreted graph form, which cannot be used for rating purposes. Additionally, the recent testing by the VA outpatient clinic did not utilize the Maryland CNC speech test. Under these circumstances, a remand is warranted to afford the Veteran a new examination. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Ask the Veteran to provide the names and addresses of all medical care providers who have treated him for his claimed bilateral hearing loss disability. After securing any necessary releases, request any relevant records identified that are not associated with the claims file.       In addition, obtain updated VA treatment records. If      any requested records are unavailable, the Veteran   should be notified of such.

2. Advise the Veteran that he should have the private audiologist who conducted the February 2017 audiological test provide the actual values shown on the graph for testing at 1000 through 4000 Hertz if he wishes to have those results considered.

3. After records development is completed, schedule    the Veteran for a VA audiological examination to determine the current severity of his bilateral hearing loss. The claims file must be reviewed by the examiner   in conjunction with the examination.  All necessary          tests should be performed and the results reported. Symptomatology associated with the bilateral hearing loss disability should be reported. The examiner should be mindful of the Veteran's maximum volume tolerance on speech testing. 

 

4. If the benefit sought on appeal remains denied, issue a supplemental statement of the case. 

 

 

K. A. BANFIELD

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Asare, 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.