Citation Nr: 22012131 Decision Date: 03/02/22 Archive Date: 03/02/22 DOCKET NO. 18-03 349 DATE: March 2, 2022 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is denied. FINDING OF FACT The evidence of record persuasively weighs against finding that the Veteran has had a left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes at any time during or approximate to the pendency of the claim. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for a left ear hearing loss disability are not met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 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 December 1994 to December 1998, from May 2002 to December 2002, from May 2008 to June 2009, and from September 2012 to August 2013. The Veteran testified before the undersigned VLJ at a May 2021 hearing. A transcript of that hearing has been associated with the record. The claim was most recently before the Board in August 2021 when it was remanded for additional development. There has been substantial compliance with the remand directives and the Board will adjudicate the claim. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). 1. Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss. The Veteran contends that he has left ear hearing loss due to exposure to loud noise in service from firing weapons. 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 the purposes of applying the laws administered by VA, impaired hearing will be considered to be 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 Board concludes that the Veteran does not have a current left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes and has not had one at any time during the pendency of the claim or recent to the filing of the claim. Romanowsky v. Shinseki, 26 Vet. App. 289, 294 (2013); McClain v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 319, 321 (2007). An examination at separation from service identified a left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes. See Service Treatment, August 1998. An audiology evaluation in service in January 2001 showed a left ear hearing loss disability for VA purposes. The Veteran filed a claim for service connection for hearing loss in March 2014. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in April 2015. The Veteran was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss. However, on the authorized audiological evaluation, pure tone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 LEFT 0 0 10 25 35 Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 94 percent in the left ear. In March 2016 it was reported that audiology in November 2015 showed asymmetrical hearing loss within normal hearing left ear but for mild NSHL in high frequencies. VA examination in October 2021 noted historical audiological evaluations showed a left ear hearing loss disability for compensation purposes in August 1998 and January 2001. However, all other tests reported from June 1994 to February 2016 did not show left ear hearing loss for VA purposes. The Veteran was diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss in all frequencies. On the authorized audiological evaluation performed at the examination, pure tone thresholds, in decibels, were as follows: HERTZ 500 1000 2000 3000 4000 LEFT 0 5 20 25 35 Speech audiometry revealed speech recognition ability of 96 percent in the left ear. Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss is not warranted. Although service treatment records and examination notes dated in treatment records dated in August 1998 and January 2001 show left ear hearing loss disability for VA compensation purposes, at no point during the period on appeal, beginning in March 2014, did the Veteran's left ear manifest hearing loss for VA purposes. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.385. Therefore, as the Veteran does not have a current diagnosis of left ear hearing loss for VA purposes, service connection must be denied. M.E. LARKIN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Robert J. Burriesci, 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.