RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
PHYSICAL DISABILITY BOARD OF REVIEW

NAME:  XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX	CASE:  PD-2017-02890
BRANCH OF SERVICE:  Army 	SEPARATION DATE:  20050920

SUMMARY OF CASE:  Data extracted from the available evidence of record reflects this covered individual (CI) was an active duty E6, Infantryman, medically separated for “bilateral sensorineural hearing loss” with a disability rating of 10%.  

CI CONTENTION:  Review of all conditions requested. 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 Medical Evaluation Board (MEB), but determined by the PEB 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.  The panel’s authority is limited to assessing the fairness and accuracy of PEB rating determinations and recommending corrections when appropriate.  The panel’s assessment of the PEB rating determination is based on review of medical records and all available evidence relevant to application of the Veterans Affairs Schedule for Rating Disabilities (VASRD) standards for 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, which operates 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 disability at the time of separation.  

RATING COMPARISON:  

SERVICE PEB – 20050720	VARD – 20060214 and 20060718	
Condition	Code	Rating	Condition	Code	Rating	Exam	
Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss	6100	10%	Bilateral Sensorineural 
Hearing Loss	6100	0%	20060517	
Asthma	Not Unfitting	Asthma	6602	30%	STR	
COMBINED RATING:  10%	COMBINED RATING OF ALL VA CONDITIONS:  40%	

ANALYSIS SUMMARY:  

Bilateral Sensorineural Hearing Loss.  According to the service treatment record (STR) and MEB narrative summary (NARSUM), the CI’s hearing loss was first documented as occurring in 1999 secondary to firing weapons from the right shoulder.  The 5 January 2005 MEB NARSUM examination, 9 months prior to separation, noted complaints of the inability to hear commands outdoors or in noisy environments.  A general physical examination was normal.  The CI’s audiogram of the same date as well as another two tests conducted 7 months later (2 months prior to separation) are charted below.  At the 17 May 2006 VA Compensation and Pension (C&P) examination, 8 months after separation, the CI reported bilateral hearing loss and tinnitus.  

HEARING	EXAM	MEB  ~9 Mo. Pre Sep
 (5 Jan 2005)	AUD ~2 Mo. Pre Sep 
(15 July 2005)	AUD ~2 Mo. Pre Sep 
(19 July 2005)	VA C&P ~8 Mo. Post Sep 
(17 May 2006)	
LEFT EAR	Average Hearing Loss	 56 dB	50 dB	59dB	54 dB	
	Speech Discrimination	15%	-	10%	92%	
	Table VI / VIa	 XI/IV	-/III	XI/IV	 I/III	
RIGHT EAR	Average Hearing  Loss	51 dB	44dB	50dB	46 dB	
	Speech Discrimination 	10%	-	10%	96%	
	Table VI / VIa	XI/III	-/II	XI/III	 I/II	
§4.85 RATING	Table VII	10%/10%	-/0%	10%/10%	0%/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 its rating recommendation based on the above evidence.  The PEB rated the bilateral hearing loss condition 10% coded 6100 (hearing loss), citing the 19 July 2005 audiology report.  Utilizing the same VASRD code, the VA rated the bilateral hearing loss condition 0%, based on the C&P examination, citing audiometric results.  The VASRD §4.85 rating schedule for hearing impairment is completely objective and derived from audiometric testing.  It is based on average pure tone thresholds across the hearing frequency ranges and accommodates for measured speech discrimination.  The above charted results of the audiometric evidence in this case yields a rating no greater than the PEB’s current 10%.  Therefore, after due deliberation, considering all the evidence and mindful of VASRD §4.3 (reasonable doubt), the panel concluded there was insufficient cause to recommend a change in the PEB adjudication for the hearing loss condition.  

Contended PEB Condition:  Asthma.  The panel’s main charge is to assess the fairness of the PEB determination that the contended condition was not unfitting.  The contended condition was not profiled or implicated in the commander’s statement and did not fail retention standards.  There was no performance-based evidence from the record that the condition significantly interfered with satisfactory duty performance at or near separation.  After due deliberation, the panel concluded there was insufficient cause to recommend a change in the PEB’s fitness determination for the contended condition, so no additional disability rating is recommended.  

BOARD FINDINGS:  In the matter of the bilateral hearing loss condition and IAW VASRD §4.85, the panel recommends no change in the PEB adjudication.  In the matter of the contended asthma condition, the panel recommends no change from the PEB’s determination as not unfitting.  There are no other conditions within the panel’s scope of review for consideration.  Therefore, the panel recommends 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 20170330, w/atchs
Exhibit B.  Service Treatment Record
Exhibit C.  Department of Veterans Affairs Record 

AR20190007210, XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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.