Citation Nr: 22014647 Decision Date: 03/14/22 Archive Date: 03/14/22 DOCKET NO. 13-16 972 DATE: March 14, 2022 REMANDED Entitlement to an initial compensable rating prior to January 30, 2018, and higher than 10 percent thereafter, for bilateral hearing loss is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from December 1963 to December 1966. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans Appeals (Board) on appeal from September 2011 and March 2021 rating decisions issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). A September 2019 Board decision denied entitlement to service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability and denied entitlement to a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss disability associated with residuals of mastoiditis with surgery. The Veteran appealed the Board's denials to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). The parties submitted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR) in August 2020, asking that the September 2019 Board decision be vacated. In August 2020, the Court granted the JMR and remanded the issues on appeal for readjudication in accordance with instructions set out in the JMR. A March 2021 Board decision granted entitlement to service connection for a right ear hearing loss disability and remanded the issue on appeal, to include consideration of entitlement to compensation for a bilateral hearing loss disability. A rating decision issued in March 2021 implemented the Board's grant of service connection for right ear hearing loss, effective May 17, 2011, and assigned a noncompensable disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss since May 17, 2011. A second March 2021 rating decision granted a higher 10 percent rating for the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss, effective January 30, 2018. An August 2021 Board decision remanded the appeal to obtain a VA audiological examination. This VA examination was conducted in September 2021 and is adequate for adjudicative purposes. Although the Board sincerely regrets the additional delay, this claim must be remanded for further evidentiary development to ensure that there is a complete record upon which to decide the Veteran's appeal. The appeal period for this initial increased rating claim dates to May 17, 2011. A review of the Veteran's VA treatment records indicates that the Veteran has undergone several audiograms/speech discrimination tests conducted by VA medical providers since May 17, 2011 that have not been associated with the electronic claims file for evidentiary consideration. The record indicates that audiograms and/or speech discrimination testing were conducted at VA facilities in January 2012, March 2013, October 2014, April 2015, October 2015, July 2017, January 2018, February 2019, March 2021, and August 2021. In March 2021, the RO supplemented the record with the pure tone threshold and speech discrimination scores from the July 2017 and January 2018 VA hearing tests, but pure tone threshold and speech discrimination scores remain missing for the other hearing tests identified above. The Veteran's VA treatment records indicate that many, if not all, of these outstanding test results can be obtained in VA's Computerized Patient Record System (CPRS) via the Tools menu under "Audiology." Considering the above analysis, the Veteran's claim is remanded for the RO to undertake appropriate efforts to locate the outstanding VA hearing test information identified in this decision. In November 2020, the Veteran submitted an October 2020 private medical opinion by his treating ear, nose, and throat (ENT) specialist, Dr. DV, regarding the severity of the Veteran's hearing loss. This medical opinion suggests that Dr. DV conducted audiology testing that may be relevant to the Veteran's appeal. Upon remand, the RO is requested to undertake appropriate efforts to obtain any relevant private treatment records and/or audiograms/speech discrimination testing results conducted by Dr. DV for evidentiary consideration. Lastly, the RO is requested to obtain updated VA treatment records from November 2021 to the present and associate them with the Veteran's electronic claims file for evidentiary review. See Bell v. Derwinski, 2 Vet. App. 611 (1992); 38 C.F.R. § 3.159(c)(2) and (3). As the Veteran last underwent a VA examination pertinent to his claim in September 2021 and there has been no allegation of worsening since then, there is no need to obtain any additional VA examinations at this time. The matter is REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records for the period from November 2021 to the present, including all audiograms and speech discrimination testing results from VA audiology and ENT consultations. 2. Obtain and associate with the electronic claims file all audiograms and speech discrimination testing results conducted at VA facilities in January 2012, March 2013, October 2014, April 2015, October 2015, February 2019, March 2021, and August 2021. The Veteran's audiograms can likely be found in the Tools menu of CPRS, under "Audiogram." Also clarify whether the speech discrimination testing conducted at these VA assessments were performed using the Maryland CNC word list. 3. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for the complete treatment records of Dr. DV, to include audiograms and speech discrimination testing results. Make two requests for the authorized records from Dr. DV's medical office unless it is clear after the first request that a second request would be futile. M. Galante Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Thaddaeus J. Cox, 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.