Citation Nr: 21013011 Decision Date: 03/08/21 Archive Date: 03/08/21 DOCKET NO. 16-11 004 DATE: March 8, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. Entitlement to service connection for tinnitus is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran has active service from September 1967 to February 1968, as well as subsequent National Guard service. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2015 and March 2015 rating decisions issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Board notes that after the January 2015 rating decision, the Veteran filed a new claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus in February 2015. In a March 2015 rating decision, the RO reopened the Veteran’s claims and continued the denial. The Board finds that both rating decisions are within one year from the date of the Veteran’s notice of disagreement. As such, the Board will complete a de novo review of the record as his notice of disagreement was within one year of the January 2015 rating decision. As the matter was properly appealed, the issue of new and material evidence will not be addressed herein. Unfortunately, the Board finds that a remand is warranted for the Veteran’s claims on appeal for further development. Specifically, the Board finds that the February 2016 VA examiner failed to consider the Veteran’s statements. The Veteran reported that during his April 1968 training, he underwent a mock ambush. During this training, the Veteran contends that he was close to a grenade simulator when it went off causing him to be knocked off his feet from the blast and lost his hearing for hours after the event. The next morning his hearing had returned, but he noticed a ringing in his ears that never went away. See February 2015 Correspondence. Also, the Veteran stated that he has worn hearing aids since 1976. The Board notes that there is no medical evidence of record apart from the February 2016 VA examination, service treatment records (STRs), and private December 2013 audiogram. Therefore, the Board finds that further development is necessary to obtain VA medical treatment records and/or private treatment records, to include records pertaining to issued hearing aids since 1976. In addition, the Veteran stated that he submitted a private audiology examination from 2012, but the Board notes that this evidence is not of record. The Board notes that there is a private audiogram from December 2013, but the record contains no evidence from 2012. The matters are thus REMANDED for the following action: 1. To the extent possible, the RO should verify all active duty periods, to include any Reserve and/or National Guard active duty. 2. Next, the RO should obtain any VA and/or private treatment records pertaining to the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus. 3. After the above record development has been completed, the RO should obtain an addendum opinion. Schedule the Veteran for an examination only if the examiner deems it necessary. Following a review of relevant records, to include the Veteran’s lay statements concerning his in-service noise exposure, the examiner should specifically address the following: (a.) For each disability, provide an opinion of whether it is at least as likely as not (a 50 percent or greater probability) that the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus had their onset during, or are otherwise related to, his active duty service. The examiner should specifically address the Veteran’s lay statement from February 2015. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board J. Glaeser, 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.