Citation Nr: 21073534 Decision Date: 12/09/21 Archive Date: 12/09/21 DOCKET NO. 18-36 042 DATE: December 9, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is remanded. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left ear hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Air Force from August 1964 to July 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a May 2018 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). 1. Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is remanded. The Veteran's claim for entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss was denied in a May 2018 rating decision. The Veteran submitted a Notice of Disagreement in June 2018 where the Veteran noted the specific issue of disagreement as "left ear hearing loss." See Notice of Disagreement. He further indicated that his hearing should be rated higher due to the amount of hearing loss he has in both ears. On the Veteran's Form 9 submitted in July 2018, he appealed all issues, requesting a higher initial rating for his left ear and service connection for his right. Accordingly, the Board liberally construes the Veteran's statements in the Notice of Disagreement and VA Form 9 to be a notice of disagreement as to his service connection for right ear hearing loss claim. To date, the Regional Office (RO) has yet to issue a statement of the case in response to the Veteran's notice of disagreement for right ear hearing loss. Therefore, the Board must remand the issue to the RO for the issuance of a statement of the case adjudicating the issue of entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss. See Manlicon v. West, 12 Vet. App. 238, 240-41 (1999). 2. Entitlement to an initial compensable evaluation for left ear hearing loss is remanded. The Veteran contends that his left ear hearing loss is more disabling and warrants a compensable rating. The Veteran underwent a VA audiological examination in April 2018. See April 2018 VA Examination. Functional impact of hearing loss reported by the Veteran included that he has difficulty with hearing in general, with speech and TV particularly difficult to hear and understand. He also shared that "it is almost impossible to go birding." The pure tone thresholds, in decibels, were: The speech discrimination score was 62 percent for the left ear. The average of the pure tone thresholds (at 1000 Hertz through 4000 Hertz) for the left ear was 65 decibels and the Veteran's right ear is not service connected. VA regulations provide that if impaired hearing is service-connected in only one ear, the non-service-connected ear must be assigned a Table VI Level I compensation to determine what percentage evaluation to assign the service-connected ear. 38 C.F.R. § 4.85. Applying these readings to Table VI results in Level VI for the left ear and Level I for the right ear. These levels of hearing loss equate to a noncompensable rating when applied to Table VII. The Veteran's VA examination for hearing loss was conducted more than 3 years ago. In his November 2021 Appellate Brief, the Veteran contended through his representative that his hearing condition has worsened since his last examination. See November 2021 Correspondence. As the Veteran indicates that his symptoms have worsened since his last examination and there is no recent VA examination of record, the Board finds that a new VA examination is appropriate to assess the current severity of the Veteran's left ear hearing loss. See Green v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 121, 124 (1991) (VA has a duty to provide the Veteran with a thorough and contemporaneous medical examination) and Caffrey v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 377, 381 (1994) (an examination too remote for rating purposes cannot be considered "contemporaneous"). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. In remanding this matter, the Board makes no finding, implicit or otherwise, as to the credibility of the Veteran's assertions. Neither the Veteran's credibility nor any lack thereof should be presumed in this remand. 2. Furnish to the Veteran and his representative a statement of the case with regard to the claim of entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss. The issue should be returned to the Board only if a timely substantive appeal is received. 3. Following any additional indicated development regarding the Veteran's right ear hearing loss, the AOJ should review the claims file and readjudicate the claim of entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss. If the benefits sought on appeal remain denied, the Veteran and his representative should be furnished a supplemental statement of the case and given the opportunity to respond thereto before the case is returned to the Board. 4. Schedule a VA compensation examination to determine the current nature and severity of the Veteran's left ear hearing loss. The electronic claims file must be reviewed in conjunction with the examination. Any appropriate evaluations, studies, and testing deemed necessary by the examiner should be conducted, and the results included in the examination report. A complete rationale should be given for all opinions and conclusions rendered. If the examiner feels that a requested opinion cannot be rendered without resorting to speculation, the examiner must state whether the need to speculate is caused by a deficiency in the state of general medical knowledge (i.e. no one could respond given medical science and the known facts) or by a deficiency in the record or the examiner (i.e. additional facts are required, or the examiner does not have the needed knowledge or training). G. A. WASIK Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board V. Schmidt 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.