Citation Nr: 21026227 Decision Date: 04/30/21 Archive Date: 04/30/21 DOCKET NO. 19-12 573 DATE: April 30, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. FINDING OF FACT The probative evidence is at least at relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss is related to his active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5103, 5107A; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.159, 3.303, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1966 to November 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal of a November 2017 rating decision by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In April 2021, the Veteran testified during a video conference hearing before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. The Veteran seeks entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss, which he contends is etiologically related to in-service exposure to noise while serving in the field artillery. Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The three-element test for service connection requires evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the current disability and the in-service disease or injury. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). For VA purposes, impaired hearing is considered 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. The record demonstrates that the Veteran has a current bilateral hearing loss disability for VA purposes. At an October 2017 VA examination, audiological testing revealed speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test of 88 in the right ear and 80 in the left ear. In addition, the Veteran’s assertions that he was exposed to noise during his active service are considered credible given the information included in his service records. His DD Form 214 reflects that he was certified as a sharpshooter and his military operation specialty was small arms repairman. Therefore, the question remaining for the Board is whether the Veteran’s current bilateral hearing loss disability is etiologically related to the in-service noise exposure. In January 2021, Dr. M.M., the Veteran’s private doctor, noted that during his active service, the Veteran was exposed to hazardous noise from live rifle fire, grenade launchers, ordinance and as a small arms repairman. The private examiner opined that due to the Veteran’s duties and exposures it is reasonable to conclude that his disability is directly related to his active service. The October 2017 VA examiner diagnosed the Veteran with bilateral sensorineural hearing loss and opined that the condition was not at least as likely as not caused by or a result of an event in military service. As a rationale for that opinion, the examiner merely stated that record shows normal hearing levels upon separation from active service. The Board finds no reason to afford greater probative weight to the October 2017 VA examiner’s opinion than to Dr. M. M.’s January 2021 opinion given that the VA examiner’s only rationale for the opinion was that the Veteran’s hearing was within normal limits at separation from active service. Accordingly, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in relative equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s bilateral hearing loss is etiologically related to his in-service noise exposure. Therefore, the Board must resolve the benefit of the doubt in the Veteran’s favor and finds that the claim for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss must be granted. 38 U.S.C. § 5107 (b); see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49 (1990). ANTHONY C. SCIRÉ, JR Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board B. G. LeMoine, 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.