Citation Nr: 21020786 Decision Date: 04/08/21 Archive Date: 04/08/21 DOCKET NO. 15-35 320 DATE: April 8, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The evidence does not support that the Veteran’s left ear hearing loss currently reaches the level of a disability for VA purposes. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for left ear hearing loss have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran had service in the United States Army and Army National Guard. He had a period of full-time training duty from January 1981 to March 1981. The Veteran also had periods of active duty service from November 1977 to March 1978; June 2008 to August 2009, and December 2011 to September 2012. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2014 rating decision. In January 2020, the Veteran testified a t a Board videoconference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. A transcript from that proceeding is associated with the claims folder. The claim was originally before the Board in April 2020. The issue was remanded for additional development to include affording the Veteran a VA examination and verifying the Veteran’s periods of active service. The Veteran underwent a VA audiological evaluation in February 2021. Additionally, military personnel records including the Veteran’s dates of active duty service were associated with the file in June 2020. Therefore, the Board finds there has been substantial compliance with the April 2020 remand directives, and further remand is not required. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from a disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. To establish entitlement to service-connected compensation benefits, a veteran must show: “(1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection may be granted for any disease initially diagnosed after service when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). For veterans with 90 days or more of active service during a war period or after December 31, 1946, certain chronic diseases, including organic diseases of the nervous system such as sensorineural hearing loss, are presumed to have been incurred in service if they manifested to a compensable degree within one year of separation from service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1112, 1113; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (b), where a chronic disease such as sensorineural hearing loss is shown as such in service, subsequent manifestations of the same chronic disease are generally service connected. If a chronic disease is noted in service but chronicity in service is not adequately supported, a showing of continuity of symptomatology after separation is required. Entitlement to service connection based on chronicity or continuity of symptomatology pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (b) applies only when the disability for which the Veteran is claiming compensation is due to a disease enumerated on the list of chronic diseases in 38 U.S.C. § 1101 (3) or 38 C.F.R. § 3.309 (a). Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331 (Fed. Cir. 2013). For the purposes of applying the laws administered by VA, impaired hearing will be considered to be a disability when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, or 4000 Hertz are 26 decibels or greater; or when speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test are less than 94 percent. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. Thresholds for normal hearing are between 0 and 20 decibels, and higher thresholds show some degree of hearing loss. Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155, 159 (1993). Turning to the evidence of record, the Veteran received a VA audiological examination in February 2021. The examination revealed puretone thresholds, in decibels, as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 LEFT 10db 15db 20db 25db 35db Speech recognition on the Maryland CNC Test was 100 percent in the left ear. These results indicated that the Veteran may have had hearing loss at level that was not considered to be a disability for VA purposes. 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. No other audiological test results are of record. As the evidence does not support a current disability, the Board did not consider whether in-service incurrence or nexus were supported by a continuity of symptomatology. Given the absence of a current left ear hearing loss disability, the Board finds that service connection for left ear hearing loss is not warranted. GAYLE STROMMEN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board C. Sherman 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.