Citation Nr: 21012297 Decision Date: 03/04/21 Archive Date: 03/04/21 DOCKET NO. 17-51 718 DATE: March 4, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty with the United States Navy from September 1989 to July 1992. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2014 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) at a hearing in January 2020. This case was previously before the Board in April 2020, when it was remanded for development. The case has been returned to the Board for further appellate review. Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is remanded. The prior Board remand directed the RO to obtain an opinion regarding service connection for left ear hearing loss that considered the Veteran’s credible reports of fluctuating levels of hearing acuity since experiencing head trauma in service. The Board also asked that the examiner consider the September 2013 VA examiner’s opinion that the right ear hearing loss had its onset during service after the head trauma. The RO afforded the Veteran a VA examination in October 2020, at which the examiner opined the left ear hearing loss was more likely due to a hydrocephalus decompression and stent placement in 2009 than military service. The examiner considered the Veteran’s August 1989 enlistment examination and a June 1990 in-service examination showing hearing within normal limits, as well as claims filed between 1994 and 2007 that did not mention left ear hearing loss. The examiner failed to address the Veteran’s reports of fluctuating hearing acuity since head trauma in service. In relying on this opinion, the RO failed to fulfill the directives of the April 2020 Board remand, and another remand is necessary to obtain an adequate opinion. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998) (remand by Board confers upon claimant, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with remand order). The matter is REMANDED for the following action: Forward the claims file to an appropriate clinician to determine whether the left ear hearing loss is related to the Veteran’s military service. Following a thorough review of the claims file, including the September 2013 VA audiological examination and the Veteran’s service treatment records, the examiner should opine whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that the left ear hearing loss began in or is otherwise caused by the Veteran’s active service. In providing the requested opinion, the examiner must specifically address the Veteran’s lay statements regarding continuity of symptomatology since onset and/or since discharge from service. The examiner should address any other pertinent evidence of record, including the September 2013 examiner’s opinion that the right ear hearing loss had its onset in service after the Veteran experienced head trauma. All findings must be reported in detail and all opinions must be accompanied by a clear rationale. If any of the above issues cannot be resolved without resorting to speculation, then a detailed medical explanation as to why this is so must be provided. M. HYLAND Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Josey, 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.