Citation Nr: 21015155
Decision Date: 03/16/21	Archive Date: 03/16/21

DOCKET NO. 14-24 284A
DATE: March 16, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from June 1963 to May 1966.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2013 rating decision.  This matter was remanded by the Board several times, most recently in December 2020.

1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

Unfortunately, there has not been substantial compliance with the Board’s previous remand directives regarding this issue. Another remand is required.  Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). The December 2020 remand instructed the examiner to consider and discuss as necessary several documents, including an April 2013 VA treatment record in which the Veteran notes hearing loss onset of approximately 1965. Unfortunately, the examiner discussed a different April 2013 record in which the Veteran reported post-service noise exposure, and did not discuss the Veteran’s assertion of in-service onset of hearing loss. This record should be discussed upon remand.

The December 2020 medical opinion cited a publication from the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine for the proposition that there is insufficient evidence to support that “previously noise exposed ears are not more sensitive to future noise exposure,” which seems to suggest that previous noise exposure, such as the Veteran’s exposure in service, might have made him more sensitive to future noise exposure.

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) related to conceded in-service exposure to loud noise from trucks and tanks. 

The opinion must be supported by a complete rationale. The clinician must discuss an April 10, 2013 VA treatment note in which the Veteran reports chronic bilateral hearing loss since 1965. The clinician should consider the possibility that the Veteran’s hearing worsened during service while remaining within normal limits. The clinician should also discuss the December 2020 medical opinion’s assertion that “there is insufficient evidence to support that previously noise exposed ears are not more sensitive to future noise exposure,” which seems to suggest the possibility that the Veteran’s previous in-service noise exposure in service might have made him more sensitive to future noise exposure. 

(Continued on the next page)

 

2. After the above development, and any additionally indicated development, has been completed, readjudicate the issue on appeal.

 

 

M.E. Larkin

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	A. Budd, 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.