Citation Nr: 21029057 Decision Date: 05/12/21 Archive Date: 05/12/21 DOCKET NO. 15-36 343 DATE: May 12, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran does not have puretone thresholds of 40 decibels at any frequency or of 26 decibels or higher in at least three of the frequencies or a speech recognition score using the Maryland CNC Test less than 94 percent in the right ear. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss have not been 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 1973 to September 1976. He served honorably in the U.S. Army, including service in Germany. The Board thanks the Veteran for his service to our country. The Veteran testified before the undersigned at a Board videoconference hearing in September 2018. A transcript of the hearing is of record. The Board previously remanded this case in April 2020 for additional development. Upon consideration of additional evidence obtained pursuant to the April 2020 Board remand, an interim February 2021 rating decision granted service connection for left ear hearing loss. As this represents a complete grant of the Veteran's claim of service connection for left ear hearing loss, this issue is no longer on appeal before the Board. See generally Grantham v. Brown, 114 F.3d 1156 (Fed. Cir. 1997); Barrera v. Gober, 122 F.3d 1030 (Fed. Cir. 1997). The case has now returned to the Board for further appellate review. Entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss is denied. The Veteran contends that service connection for right ear hearing loss is warranted. The Board finds that service connection for right ear hearing loss is not warranted as there is no hearing loss under 38 C.F.R. § 3.385 current during the period on appeal. Service connection may be granted for disability due to disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active military service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304. Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. To substantiate a claim of service connection, there must be evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) a disease, injury, or event in service; and (3) a nexus or causal relationship between the claimed disability and the disease, injury, or event in service. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1166-67 (Fed. Cir. 2004). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding the merits of an issue material to the determination of the matter, the benefit of the doubt in resolving each such issue shall be given to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. When all of the evidence is assembled, VA is responsible for determining whether the evidence supports the claim or is in relative equipoise, with the veteran prevailing in either event, or whether a fair preponderance of the evidence is against the claim, in which case the claim is denied. Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 55 (1990). VA has specifically defined what is meant by a "disability" for the purposes of service connection: "[i]mpaired hearing will be considered to be a disability when the auditory threshold in any of the frequencies 500, 1000, 2000, 3000, 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 threshold for normal hearing is from 0 to 20 decibels, and higher threshold levels indicate some degree of hearing loss. Hensley v. Brown, 5 Vet. App. 155, 157 (1993). In a November 2013 VA examination report audiological evaluation, puretone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 15 10 5 25 30 The Veteran's speech discrimination score in the right ear was 100 percent using the Maryland CNC speech recognition test. In a June 2016 audiology consultation, puretone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 15 10 10 30 30 Speech discrimination testing used a CID W-22 list. In an October 2019 private audiological evaluation, puretone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 15 10 10 not tested 25 Speech discrimination testing used a CID W-22 list. In a February 2021 VA examination report audiological evaluation, puretone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 RIGHT 20 15 15 30 30 The Veteran's speech discrimination score in the right ear was 100 percent using the Maryland CNC speech recognition test. Based on these audiometric findings, the Veteran has not had puretone thresholds of 40 decibels at any frequency or of 26 decibels or higher in at least three of the frequencies in the right ear at any time during the appeal. Moreover, no speech recognition score using the Maryland CNC Test was less than 94 percent in the right ear. Thus, although he may have decreased hearing acuity in the right ear, this is not sufficient to establish that he has right ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes under 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. Hence, after reviewing all the evidence of record, the Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against finding that the Veteran had right ear hearing loss under 38 C.F.R. § 3.385 current during (or proximate to) the period on appeal. The Board has considered the doctrine of reasonable doubt, but finds that the record does not provide an approximate balance of negative and positive evidence on the merits. The claim for service connection is, therefore, denied. Gilbert, 1 Vet. App. at 55; 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. M. C. GRAHAM Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. Vashaw, 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.