Citation Nr: 21005540
Decision Date: 02/01/21	Archive Date: 02/01/21

DOCKET NO. 14-44 378
DATE: February 1, 2021

REMANDED

Service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from August 1968 to May 1971. This matter is on appeal from a July 2012 rating decision.

In May 2019, the Board remanded the matter for both a VA examination and medical opinion. The Veteran did not appear, and a medical opinion was not issued. Recent records show, however, that the Veteran has advanced dementia that requires regular care and assistance. Accordingly, while an examination may be impossible to obtain, the Board finds that a remand is necessary to obtain a medical opinion.  Also, the VA records in the file for the appeal period are from 2009 to January 2012 from the Fayetteville Health Care System and from February 2015 to December 2019 from the St. Louis Health Care System.  Therefore, records from 2012 to 2015 are missing.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain the Veteran’s VA treatment records from St. Louis VA Health Care System and Marion VAMC from January 2012 to February 2015, to include any separately located audiogram results such as in CPRS. 

2. After obtaining the above records, forward the claims file to an appropriate VA examiner for a nexus opinion regarding the Veteran’s hearing loss and service. After a review of the claims file, the examiner should respond to the following:

(a.) Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s hearing loss is related to his in-service noise exposure? The examiner cannot base the opinion solely on the lack of documentation of hearing loss in service.

(b.) If not, is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s hearing loss was caused by his service-connected diabetes mellitus?

(c.) If not, is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran’s hearing loss has been permanently aggravated by his service-connected diabetes mellitus? 

 

 

MICHELLE L. KANE

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

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 This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.