Citation Nr: 21029228 Decision Date: 05/13/21 Archive Date: 05/13/21 DOCKET NO. 15-33 196 DATE: May 13, 2021 ORDER Service connection for bilateral 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 bilateral 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 rom March 1970 to March 1974. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a February 2013 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO) in San Diego, California. The claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss was previously before the Board in November 2019. At that time, the Board remanded the claim to obtain an updated VA examination. As the record reflects that the Veteran was afforded a 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). Service connection for bilateral 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 September 2020 VA audiological examination. The Veteran reported that his exposure to noise in the military included exposure to radio circuits in workspaces, weapons fire during service in Vietnam and an auxiliary generator that was near his bunk. The Board finds the Veteran's report of military noise exposure competent and credible. The September 2020 VA examiner concluded that the Veteran's hearing loss was less likely than not related to his military service. The examiner noted that the Veteran separated from service in 1974, his hearing loss was diagnosed in 2013 and his hearing loss worsened as a result of chemotherapy treatment he underwent in 2018. The examiner also noted that the Veteran had significant post-service noise exposure in his roles as a welder, fabricator and millwright. The examiner explained that the hearing loss first noted in 2013 was primarily "low frequency loss reverse sloping to mild in the high frequencies." According to the examiner, these findings are not consistent with noise exposure. The examiner also referenced a 2006 Institute of Medicine study finding that delayed onset hearing loss due to previous hazardous noise exposure was unlikely. The Board finds the September 2020 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 medical history, referenced relevant medical literature 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). Nor is there record evidence reflecting a diagnosis of hearing loss for VA disability purposes based on testing by a licensed audiologist 38 C.F.R. § 4.85(a) during service or within a year of discharge. Based on the foregoing, the Board finds that the Veteran's current hearing loss is not related to his active duty service and 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.