Citation Nr: 23056590 Decision Date: 10/17/23 Archive Date: 10/17/23 DOCKET NO. 19-29 001A DATE: October 17, 2023 REMANDED Entitlement to a compensable rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss is remanded. Entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to service-connected disabilities, prior to March 27, 2018, and from November 1, 2022, is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND This appeal has been advanced on the Board's docket pursuant to 38C.F.R. §20.900(c). 38U.S.C. §7101(a)(2). The Veteran served on active duty in the Marine Corps from April 1966 to April 1968. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from a March 2017 rating decision issued by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In November 2021, the Veteran testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge (VLJ) via a virtual hearing. A transcript of the hearing is of record. In December 2021, March 2023, and August 2023, the Board remanded the Veteran's claims for additional development. The Board now finds that there was not substantial compliance with the August 2023 remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998). 1. Entitlement to a compensable rating for service-connected bilateral hearing loss is remanded. As noted above, the Board remanded the Veteran's claim in August 2023, specifically to obtain the speech discrimination scores under the Maryland CNC from the March 2016 audiogram, or an explicit determination that this information is unavailable, or a test was not performed. A review of the record reveals that this information was not provided, as directed by the Board's August 2023 remand. Instead, the record reflects that the RO re-uploaded the same March 2016 VA treatment record showing the Veteran underwent an audiology re-evaluation that did not contain the actual audiogram results, as noted in the March 2023 Board remand. This treatment record does not contain the necessary speech discrimination scores under the Maryland CNC, nor did the RO explicitly state that this information is unavailable, or this test was not performed. In fact, in the August 2023 Supplemental Statement of the Case (SSOC), the RO inaccurately notated that the March 2016 audiogram results with speech discrimination scores under the Maryland CNC were obtained. Therefore, to reiterate, as these scores under the Maryland CNC must be included for the March 2016 audiogram to be valid for rating purposes and is pertinent determining whether the Veteran's bilateral hearing loss warrants a compensable rating during the appeal period, the Board finds that these results must be obtained for review, prior to adjudication of the claim and in compliance with Stegall. A such, a remand is necessary. 2. Entitlement to a TDIU, prior to March 27, 2018, and from November 1, 2022, is remanded. The Board notes that as development of the increased rating claim before the Board may have an impact on the TDIU claim, the Board finds these issues to be inextricably intertwined. Harris v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 180 (1991). Accordingly, the Board will defer adjudication of the inextricably intertwined TDIU claim at this time. The matters are REMANDED for the following action: 1. Obtain and associate with the claims file any outstanding medical treatment records, to include the March 2016 audiogram results with speech discrimination scores under the Maryland CNC. If this information is unavailable or this test was not performed, please explicitly state so and include in the claims file for review. 2. Readjudicate the claims. If a full grant of benefits sought on appeal are not granted, furnish the Veteran and his representative with a SSOC and afford them an opportunity to respond before the record is returned to the Board for further review. DELYVONNE M. WHITEHEAD Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board Carter, Brittani 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.