Citation Nr: 21022762 Decision Date: 04/19/21 Archive Date: 04/19/21 DOCKET NO. 16-25 862 DATE: April 19, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served in the Army on active duty from January 1985 to May 1987. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2014 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In October 2018, the Board remanded the instant claim for additional development to include obtaining VA treatment records and affording the Veteran a new VA examination. The Board requested copies of the VA audiograms referenced in VA treatment records dated in September 2013 and August 2017. Although duplicate VA treatment records from that time was added to the claims file, the specific audiograms have still not been obtained. As such, another remand is necessary. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). Additionally, the Board requested that a VA examination be scheduled to assess the current nature and severity of the Veteran’s service-connected hearing loss. The Veteran underwent a VA examination in August 2019, but the examiner found the results were not reliable or valid as puretone test results could not be obtained. The examiner did not explain why the tests results were not reliable or how instructions were not followed. The Veteran submitted a private audiology examination dated in August 2020, but that examiner failed to provide word recognition scores. As the claim is being remanded for additional development, the Board finds an additional VA hearing loss evaluation is also necessary. The Board reminds the Veteran that the "duty to assist is not always a one-way street." See Wood v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 190, 193 (1991). A veteran is expected to cooperate in the efforts to adjudicate the claim, and his failure to do so would subject him to the risk of an adverse adjudication based on an incomplete and underdeveloped record. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran’s September 2013 and August 2017 VA audiometric reports and associate them with the claims file. Such records may be contained in the VA Computerized Patient Records System (CPRS). If it is unclear from any audiometry results whether speech discrimination testing was done using the Maryland CNC word list, please seek clarification regarding what type of speech discrimination testing was done. If they are unavailable, a formal finding of unavailability should be included in the claims file. 2. Schedule the Veteran for an examination by an appropriate clinician to determine the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss. All required tests, to include puretone threshold and controlled speech discrimination (Maryland CNC) testing, should be performed. The examiner must also provide a full description of the effect of the Veteran’s hearing loss disability on his occupational functioning and daily activities. 3. The Veteran is informed that it is his responsibility to report for any scheduled examinations and to cooperate in the development of the claim and that the consequences for failure to report for any VA examination without good cause or failure to cooperate with the examiner may include denial of a claim. See 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.158, 3.655. KRISTY L. ZADORA Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. M. Donahue Boushehri, 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.