Citation Nr: 21074600 Decision Date: 12/15/21 Archive Date: 12/15/21 DOCKET NO. 18-02 570 DATE: December 15, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1966 to May 1970. This case is before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2017 Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) rating decision. In that rating decision, the RO denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran's notice of disagreement was received in January 2017. The RO issued a statement of the case in December 2017. The Veteran's VA Form 9, substantive appeal to the Board, was received in December 2017. In August 2021, the Veteran testified at a virtual Board hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript of the testimony is associated with the claims file. 1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran asserts that his current hearing loss is related to his noise exposure during active duty working as an Aviation Ordnanceman in which he was exposed to acoustic trauma around aircraft. See December 2017 VA Form 9. Further, according to the Veteran's DD-214, his military occupational specialty (MOS) was that of an Aviation Ordnanceman. Accordingly, noise exposure is conceded. During the January 2017 VA examination the examiner diagnosed current hearing loss for VA purposes as well as tinnitus. The examiner found a positive nexus between the Veteran's reported onset of ringing in his ears and acoustic trauma in service but concluded the Veteran's current hearing loss was not related to service. The examiner reasoned that there was no significant threshold shift based on the Veteran's enlistment examination and separation examination. However, the examiner fails to address whether the Veteran's hearing loss is related to his service-connected tinnitus and the conceded noise exposure. Additionally, the Veteran has multiple audiological examinations in service which suggest a decline in hearing which were not addressed by the examiner. As such a remand is necessary. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Obtain an addendum opinion by a VA audiologist to determine the likely etiology of the Veteran's current hearing loss. The claims folder, to include a copy of this Remand, must be made available to and reviewed by the audiologist prior to completion of the opinion, and the opinion must reflect that the claims folder was reviewed. Given the Veteran's current hearing loss disability, the audiologist is asked to opine as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent probability or greater) that the disability (1) began during active service; (2) manifested to a compensable degree within one year after discharge from service; (3) is related to an in-service injury, or disease, including the Veteran's conceded noise exposure in service; OR (4) is otherwise related to his service-connected tinnitus. The audiologist must also address the in-service hearing conservation data and any shifts in hearing thresholds to include examinations in July 1966, January 1969, and April 1970. A rationale for all opinions must be provided. L. B. CRYAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board N. Ardalan, 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.