Citation Nr: 21072090 Decision Date: 12/02/21 Archive Date: 12/02/21 DOCKET NO. 17-38 926 DATE: December 2, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The preponderance of the evidence of record is against finding that the Veteran has had a hearing loss disability in the right ear. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from July 1976 to July 1979. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2016 rating decision by Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In March 2019, the Veteran testified at a hearing before the undersigned Veteran Law Judge. A copy of the proceeding is associated with the electronic claim file. The Veteran contends that his bilateral hearing loss is related to service. On October 2019, the Board remanded the claim on bilateral hearing loss back to the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) because further action was required. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination for bilateral hearing loss in December 2019. Subsequently, the AOJ issued a decision and provided a partial grant by establishing service connection for the left ear hearing loss and continued the denial of service connection for the right hearing loss. Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss. The Veteran seeks service connection for hearing loss disability in the right ear (claimed as bilateral hearing loss). The Veteran contends that he has a hearing loss disability as a result of noise exposure during service. However, after reviewing the record in light of the applicable law and regulations, the Board finds the preponderance of the evidence against this claim as there is no hearing loss disability in the right ear. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166 -67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). As a layman, the Veteran is competent to report factors that are capable of lay observation, such as his symptoms and what he experienced during and since his separation from service. Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465 (1994). For example, he is competent to report when he first experienced back pain or when he first sought treatment. However, there is no evidence to suggest that he is competent by training or experience to diagnose any pathology causing his symptoms. The issue is medically complex and requires specialized knowledge and experience with several areas of medical expertise and interpretation of imaging studies and laboratory tests. Jandreau v. Nicholson, 492 F.3d 1372 (Fed. Cir. 2007). Thus, the question of etiology may not be competently addressed by lay evidence. Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (2009). 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, 4000 Hertz is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz 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. Here, during a December 2019 VA audiologic examination, the audiometry revealed the Veteran's puretone thresholds, in decibels: HERTZ 1000 2000 3000 4000 Avg Hz Speech Discrimination RIGHT 15 15 10 25 16.25 100% The Veteran's right ear puretone average was 16.25 decibels. Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 100%. The highest pure tone threshold was 25 decibels at any of the applicable frequencies. Moreover, the VA audiologist confirmed that the Veteran's service treatment records documented normal hearing sensitivity without any significant positive shift in thresholds. Review of the record, to include the VA examination with audiogram completed in August 2016, does not reflect evidence of a hearing loss disability as defined by VA in the right ear. The Board acknowledge that the AOJ has provided a partial grant by establishing service connection for the left ear hearing loss; however, the right ear hearing loss does not meet the criteria for current disability as defined by 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. The evidence reflects that the Veteran does not have a hearing loss disability as defined by the VA. The claim for service connection for right ear hearing loss must be denied on the basis of no disability. Accordingly, service connection is not warranted, and this appeal is denied. There is no doubt to resolve. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Nathaniel J. Doan Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Brooks, J.G. 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.