Citation Nr: 21026351 Decision Date: 04/30/21 Archive Date: 04/30/21 DOCKET NO. 18-44 369 DATE: April 30, 2021 ORDER Service connection for hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s current hearing loss is not related to his active duty service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for hearing loss are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.385. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from September 1966 to September 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2017 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in Nashville, Tennessee. The claim for service connection for hearing loss was previously before the Board in December 2020. At that time, the Board remanded the claim to obtain an adequate VA examination addressing the nature and etiology of the Veteran’s hearing loss. As the record reflects that the Veteran was afforded an adequate VA audiological examination following the Board’s remand, the Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand directives. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). This appeal has been advanced on the Board’s docket pursuant to 38 U.S.C. § 7107(a)(2); 38 C.F.R. § 20.902(c). Service connection for hearing loss Service connection may be granted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 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, 4000 Hertz (“the relevant frequencies”) is 40 decibels or greater; or when the auditory thresholds for at least three of the relevant frequencies are 26 decibels or greater; or when speech recognition scores using the Maryland CNC Test are less than 94 percent. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. The Veteran currently has hearing loss constituting a disability for VA purposes, as reflected in the report of the April 2017 VA audiological examination. The Veteran was also exposed to military noise based on his military occupational specialty (MOS) as an equipment mechanic and vehicle repairman. The Veteran contends that his hearing loss was caused by his exposure to heavy construction equipment and diesel engines without hearing protection. The January 2021 VA examiner concluded that it was less likely than not that the Veteran’s hearing loss was caused by his military noise exposure. The examiner noted the lack of a significant threshold shift in hearing thresholds from enlistment to separation and the lack of objective evidence to support the Veteran’s contention that his hearing loss started in service. The examiner also noted that delayed onset of hearing loss was unlikely, with reference to a report by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The Board finds the January 2021 VA medical opinion competent, credible and entitled to probative weight because it was based on a thorough review of the claims file, addressed the Veteran’s lay reports and medical science and included a detailed rationale. See Stefl v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 120, 124 (2007). Moreover, there is no probative evidence to the contrary. Although the Veteran is competent to report his experiences and noise exposure, there is no indication in the record that he is competent to opine as to the etiology of his hearing loss. See Layno v. Brown, 6 Vet. App. 465, 470 (1994) (lay testimony is competent as to feature or symptoms, but not etiology of an injury or illness). Moreover, although the Veteran is competent to report that he experienced hearing loss during service, a diagnosis of hearing loss for VA disability purposes requires testing by a licensed audiologist 38 C.F.R. § 4.85(a). No such evidence of hearing loss in service exists in this record. The Board also recognizes the Veteran’s claims that the dates of service noted by the January 2021 VA examiner were inaccurate and that his hearing was not tested by the January 2021 VA examiner. The dates of service listed by the VA examiner, however, correspond to the dates claimed by the Veteran and listed in his Form DD 214. The VA examiner also correctly referred to the dates that the Veteran’s enlistment and separation examinations were conducted. The lack of an audio examination by the January 2021 VA examiner has no bearing on the matter as there is no dispute that the Veteran has a current hearing loss disability for VA disability purposes. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds that the Veteran’s current hearing loss is not related to his active duty service. Accordingly, the claim for service connection is denied. As the preponderance of evidence is against the Veteran’s claim, the benefit of the doubt doctrine is inapplicable. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. S.C. KREMBS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Snyder, 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.