Citation Nr: 21032678 Decision Date: 05/27/21 Archive Date: 05/27/21 DOCKET NO. 15-06 453A DATE: May 27, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral hearing loss have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.304(f)(3). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from December 1974 to April 1978. In January 2020, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) issued a decision denying entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss. The Veteran appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans' Claims (Court). By a January 2021 Order, the Court, pursuant to a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), vacated the Board's January 2020 decision and remanded the matter for further action consistent with the JMR. In the JMR, the parties agreed that the Board erred by relying upon an inadequate May 2014 VA examination report that reflected a negative nexus between the Veteran's hearing loss and service. The claim for entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is now returned before the Board. Service Connection Service connection may be established for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (d). Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a link between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 293 (2013). When there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding any issue material to the determination of a matter, VA shall give the benefit of the doubt to the claimant. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; see also Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). 1. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. For the reasons that follow, the Board finds that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is related to his active duty military service. Therefore, service connection for bilateral hearing loss is warranted. Here, the Board finds that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of bilateral hearing loss, as defined by VA regulations. See May 2014 VA Hearing Loss and Tinnitus Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ). Therefore, the current disability requirement is met. The second element is also met. The Veteran reports that he was exposed to acoustic trauma in service. Specifically, he reports that he served on an aircraft carrier and that his berth space was directly below the flight deck on the starboard side, which allowed to pass through the loud sounds from aircrafts taking off and landing, and from high pressure steam from the catapults. The Veteran's service records show he served aboard an aircraft carrier, while serving in the United States Navy. Finding the evidence most favorably for the Veteran, the Board finds that the statements are therefore corroborated. Thus, the issue is whether there is a link between the Veteran's current disabilities and the Veteran's active duty service. In this regard, the Board finds persuasive the private medical opinion dated April 2021 from private audiologist, J.D., who opined that the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss is likely related to the Veteran's noise exposure in service. In forming this opinion, J.D. properly and thoroughly considered the lay statements and medical records. See Nieves-Rodriguez v. Peake, 22 Vet. App. 295, 302-05 (2008); Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 312 (2007). Based on the foregoing, the Board finds the opinion to be sufficient and entitled to probative weight. (Continued on the next page) Furthermore, there are no adequate negative nexus opinions on file. Based on the foregoing, the claim for service connection for bilateral hearing loss is granted. Wise v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 517, 531 (2014) ("By requiring only an 'approximate balance of positive and negative evidence'..., the nation, 'in recognition of our debt to our veterans,' has 'taken upon itself the risk of error' in awarding... benefits."). Kalisse Anderson Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board C. J. Cho, 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.