Citation Nr: 21023929
Decision Date: 04/21/21	Archive Date: 04/21/21

DOCKET NO. 16-26 681
DATE: April 21, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to a compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the United State Air Force from June 1992 to June 1993. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 2014 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).

The Board notes that on his June 2016 VA Form 9, the Veteran requested a Board video conference hearing. However, prior to the hearing, the Veteran withdrew his request for a hearing in May 2017 written correspondence. Therefore, the hearing request is considered withdrawn. 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(e).

The Board remanded this matter in January 2020 for additional development. 

Entitlement to a compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss is remanded.

In a January 2020 Board decision, the Veteran’s claim for entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss was granted.  As he was already service connected for right ear hearing loss, entitlement to a compensable disability rating for bilateral hearing loss was remanded for additional development, to include a new VA examination to determine the severity of his bilateral hearing loss disability.  However, the Veteran was not provided with a VA examination. Instead, audiometric results from a November 2016 VA examination were relied upon to assess the severity of his service connected bilateral hearing loss disability.  Accordingly, an additional remand is warranted to afford the Veteran with a VA examination to determine the current severity of his service-connected bilateral hearing loss disability.  See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998) (A remand by the Board confers on the Veteran, as a matter of law, the right to compliance with the remand).

The matters are REMANDED for the following actions:

Schedule the Veteran for a VA audiology examination with a qualified audiologist to determine the current severity of his bilateral hearing loss. The examiner must review the Veteran’s claims file, to include a copy of this REMAND, and that review must be noted in the examination report. Thereafter, the examiner is asked to:

(a) identify auditory thresholds, in decibels, at frequencies of 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hertz, and the resultant average;

(b) administer a Maryland CNC Test to determine speech recognition ability;

(c) describe the effects of the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss on his occupational functioning and activities of daily life.

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The examiner should set forth all examination findings and provide a complete medical rationale for any conclusions reached.

 

 

LESLEY A. REIN

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Rosenthal, Ariana

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.