Citation Nr: 21024849 Decision Date: 04/26/21 Archive Date: 04/26/21 DOCKET NO. 18-47 501 DATE: April 26, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1962 to August 1964. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a July 2017 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified at a hearing conducted by the undersigned Veterans Law Judge in September 2020. A transcript of the hearing has been associated with the Veteran’s VA claims file. In December 2020, the Board remanded the Veteran’s claim for additional development. Because the Board’s remand instructions have not been complied with, these issues must be remanded again. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998) (where the remand orders of the Board are not complied with, the Board errs as a matter of law when it fails to ensure compliance). This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2); 38 C.F.R. § 20.900(c) (2019). Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. The Veteran contends his hearing loss stems from acoustic trauma during active duty service. The available medical records indicate that puretone audiometric testing was done on January 23, 2017 but the relevant numbers or charts are not associated with the testing results. In the December 2020 remand, the Board instructed the agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) to obtain all outstanding VA treatment records, to specifically include the January 23, 2017 audiological test results. In February 2021 the RO added the same audiological summary already associated with the record. The audiology note indicates that full test results may be accessed in CPRS. Those records are not associated with the Veteran’s claims file and remain unavailable for review by the Board. Thus, the Board finds that there has not been substantial compliance with the December 2020 remand directives. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). On remand, these results must be obtained and associated with the claims file. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain all outstanding VA treatment records and associate them with the claims file, including the Veteran’s full and complete audiological testing results from January 23, 2017. Treatment records indicate that the results are in CPRS. All available records should be associated with the Veteran’s VA claims folder. 2. After undertaking any additional development deemed appropriate and giving the Veteran full opportunity to supplement the record, adjudicate the Veteran’s pending claim in light of any additional evidence added to the record. If any benefit sought on appeal remains denied, the Veteran and his representative should be furnished with a Supplemental Statement of the Case and be afforded the applicable opportunity to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further review. M. Donohue Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Aston, 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.