RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
PHYSICAL DISABILITY BOARD OF REVIEW

NAME:  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	CASE:  PD-2015-00692
BRANCH OF SERVICE:  Army 	SEPARATION DATE:  20080117

SUMMARY OF CASE:  Data extracted from the available evidence of record reflects that this covered individual (CI) was an active duty E4, Motor Transport Operator, medically separated for “mild to moderate sloping sensorineural hearing loss [SNHL]” with a disability rating of 0%.  

CI CONTENTION:  The CI made no specific contention.  The complete submission is at Exhibit A.  

SCOPE OF REVIEW:  The panel’s scope of review is defined in DoDI 6040.44.  It is limited to review of disability ratings assigned to those conditions determined by the Physical Evaluation Board (PEB) to be unfitting for continued military service and when specifically requested by the CI, those conditions identified by the PEB, but determined to be not unfitting or non-compensable.  Any conditions outside the panel’s defined scope of review and any contention not requested in this application may remain eligible for future consideration by the Board for Correction of Military Records.  Furthermore, the panel’s authority is limited to assessing the fairness and accuracy of PEB rating determinations and recommending corrections, where appropriate.  The panel’s assessment of the PEB rating determination is based on review of medical records and all available evidence for application of the Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) standards to the unfitting medical condition(s) at the time of separation.  The panel has neither the role nor the authority to compensate for post-separation progression or complications of service-connected conditions.  That role and authority is granted by Congress to the Department of Veterans Affairs, operating under a different set of laws.  The panel gives consideration to VA evidence, particularly within 12 months of separation, but only to the extent that it reasonably reflects the severity of the disability at the time of separation.  

RATING COMPARISON:  

SERVICE PEB - 20071102	VARD - 20080502	
Condition	Code	Rating	Condition	Code	Rating	Exam	
Bilateral Mild To Moderate Sloping SNHL	6100	0%	Bilateral Hearing Loss	6100	0%	20070811	
COMBINED RATING:  0%	COMBINED RATING OF ALL VA CONDITIONS:  0%	

ANALYSIS SUMMARY:  

Bilateral Mild to Moderate Sloping SNHL.  According to the service treatment record (STR) and the Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) narrative summary (NARSUM), the CI entered the service with a normal audiogram in December 2002.  Annual screening, along with further testing in May 2007, revealed bilateral SNHL.  A May 2007 audiology evaluation, 8 months prior to separation, documented hearing in the left ear to be 25 decibels (dB), 30 dB, 50 dB, and 55 dB at the 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 frequencies with an average hearing loss of 40 dB.  Hearing in the right ear was documented as 30 dB, 45 dB, 50 dB, and 55 dB at the same respective frequencies with an average hearing loss of 45 dB.  Speech discrimination scores were 90% on the left and 100% on the right.  Radiographic imaging in June 2007 did not identify an etiology.  

The MEB NARSUM and VA Compensation and Pension examinations were done concurrently on 11 August 2007, 5 months prior to separation.  The physical examination showed a normal light reflexes and normal internal tympanic membrane bilaterally with no evidence of effusion.  Gross hearing was intact.  Fine hearing was diminished bilaterally (inability to hear a watch ticking close to the ear).   The hearing loss evaluation in evidence which the panel weighed in arriving at its rating recommendation, with documentation of additional ratable criteria, is summarized in the chart below.  

HEARING	EXAM	MEB  ~8 Mo. Pre Sep	NARSUM/VA C&P 
5 mos pre-sep 
20070811 	
LEFT EAR	Average Hearing Loss	40 dB	 dB	
	Speech Discrimination	90%	%	
	Table VI / VIa	II  / I	 / I	
RIGHT EAR	Average Hearing  Loss	45 dB	 dB	
	Speech Discrimination 	100%	%	
	Table VI / VIa	I / II	  /  I	
§4.85 RATING	Table VII	0%	%	
(Average hearing loss is the sum of pure tone thresholds at 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000 Hz divided by four)

The panel directed attention to the rating recommendation based on the above evidence.  The PEB rated 0% for the hearing loss condition, coded 6100 (hearing loss).  The VA identically rated and coded the hearing loss condition, based on the service May 2007 audiological evaluation 8 months before separation.  IAW the VASRD §4.85 (evaluation of hearing impairment) and the §4.87 rating schedule for hearing loss (Tables VI and VII), the impairments in evidence, based on pure tone threshold average and speech discrimination, supported a 0% rating.  There was no evidence of more significant decrements in hearing loss for a higher rating.  After due deliberation, considering all of the evidence and mindful of VASRD §4.3 (reasonable doubt), the panel concluded that there was insufficient cause to recommend a change in the PEB adjudication for the hearing loss condition.  

BOARD FINDINGS:  In the matter of the hearing loss condition and IAW VASRD §4.85 and §4.87, the panel unanimously recommends no change in the PEB adjudication.  There were no other conditions within the panel’s scope of review for consideration.  The panel, therefore, recommends that there be no modification or re-characterization of the CI’s disability and separation determination.  

The following documentary evidence was considered:

Exhibit A.  DD Form 294, dated 20150603, w/atchs
Exhibit B.  Service Treatment Record
Exhibit C.  Department of Veterans Affairs Treatment Record

AR20170006549, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 

Dear XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:

	The Department of Defense Physical Disability Board of Review (DoD PDBR) reviewed your application and found your separation disability rating and your separation from the Army for disability with severance pay to be accurate.  I have reviewed the Board’s recommendation and record of proceedings (copy enclosed), and I accept its recommendation.  I regret to inform you that your application to the DoD PDBR is denied.  

	This decision is final.  Recourse within the Department of Defense or the Department of the Army is exhausted; however, you have the option to seek relief by filing suit in a court of appropriate jurisdiction.

Sincerely,					       
						      					
Enclosure