BVA9501711 
DOCKET NO.  93-09 265     )       DATE
          )
          )

On appeal from the decision of the
Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in Nashville,
Tennessee

THE ISSUES

1.  Entitlement to service connection for parasites.

2.  entitlement to service connection for right ear hearing loss
disability.

3.  Entitlement to service connection for left ear hearing loss
disability.

REPRESENTATION

Appellant represented by: Tennessee Department of
Veterans' Affairs

WITNESS AT HEARING ON APPEAL

Appellant

REMAND

The veteran had active duty from May 1942 to July 1944.

In October 1946, the appellant reported to a VA examiner that he
had been on a firing range and that he had partial deafness on
the right since then.  Conductive deafness on the right was
diagnosed and a clinical finding was included.  Neither the
rating decision nor the hearing officer decision refer to this
evidence.  Regardless, the record does not contain a current VA
examination report nor an opinion regarding the etiology of the
hearing loss on the right.

To ensure that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has met
its duty to assist the claimant in developing the facts pertinent
to the claim and to ensure full compliance with due process
requirements, the case is REMANDED to the regional office (RO)
for the following development:

1.  The veteran should be afforded a VA
audiometric examination to determine the
nature and etiology of the veteran's
hearing loss.  The claims folder should be
made available to the examiner for review
before the examination.  An examiner should
review the entire record, including the
service medical records, the VA examination
report of 1946, and the private medical
record of July 1958.  An examiner should
identify the nature of the current hearing
loss.  In addition, an examiner should
enter an opinion as to whether it is as
likely as not that the current hearing loss
is due to the claimed inservice noise
exposure.

2.  The veteran should be informed that he
has submitted evidence that renders the
claim for service connection for right ear
hearing loss disability plausible.  The
veteran should be requested to submit
evidence that renders the claim for service
connection for a left ear  hearing loss
disability plausible (well grounded).  The
best evidence would be competent evidence
tending to establish the presence of a left
ear hearing loss disability during service
or in proximity to service or otherwise
attributing the disability to service.

3.  The veteran should be informed that he
has a duty to submit evidence of a well
grounded claim for service connection for
parasites.  The veteran should be informed
that a grant of service connection requires
that there be current disability.  If the
veteran has current disability due to
parasites, he should submit competent
evidence that tends to establish that fact.

4.  If the veteran submits competent
evidence of current parasite disability,
the regional office should obtain an
opinion as to whether there were inservice
manifestations of parasites.

Thereafter, the case should be returned to the Board, if in
order.  The Board intimates no opinion as to the ultimate outcome
of this case.  The appellant need take no action unless otherwise
notified.

          H. N. SCHWARTZ
          Member, Board of Veterans' Appeals

The Board of Veterans' Appeals Administrative Procedures
Improvement Act, Pub. L. No. 103-271, § 6, 108 Stat. 740, ___
(1994), permits a proceeding instituted before the Board to be
assigned to an individual member of the Board for a
determination.  This proceeding has been assigned to an
individual member of the Board.
          (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE)

Under 38 U.S.C.A. § 7252 (West 1991), only a decision of the
Board of Veterans' Appeals is appealable to the United States
Court of Veterans Appeals.  This remand is in the nature of a
preliminary order and does not constitute a decision of the Board
on the merits of your appeal.  38 C.F.R. § 20.1100(b) (1993).