Almost. but Here Is the Meat of It -In Case Anyone Else Runs Into This Same Issue: The

almost. but here is the meat of it -in case anyone else runs into this same issue:
The VA examiner, Audiologist Angela D’Amelio, purported to cite a 2005 report of the Institute of Medicine. However, the quote that she refers to is nowhere to be found within that report. D’Amelio falsely claims:
The study stated “that there is no scientific basis for delayed or late onset noise-induced hearing loss, i.e. hearing normal at discharge and causally attributable to military noise exposure 20-30 years later. In cases where there were entrance and separation audiograms and such tests were normal, there was no scientific basis for concluding that hearing loss that develops 20 or 30 years later is causally related to military service. Therefore, audiologists have no scientific basis for concluding that delayed onset hearing losses exist.”
D’Amelio does not include a citation because that language is simply not in the 2005 report of the Institute of Medicine. Far from D’Amelio’s assertion the study made an actual finding that there was a lack of evidence from longitudinal studies in laboratory animals or humans to determine whether permanent noise-induced hearing loss can develop much later in one’s lifetime, long after the cessation of that noise exposure. Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus at pp.11
The VA should credit no probative value to a study that admittedly lacks evidence to make the conclusion on which the VA examiner seeks to rely. This lack of evidence neither proves nor disproves the present claim therefore it should not be considered relevant to the issue of whether this veteran’s hearing loss is service connected.
That same report also states:
As illustrated in Chapter 2, young adults with a slight noise-induced high frequency hearing loss (e.g., 15–30 dB HL at 6000 Hz), one not likely to cause much difficulty with communication if present at the time a young adult might be discharged from military service, will likely exhibit greater hearing loss as they age than young adults with normal hearing (0 dB HL) at discharge. As demonstrated previously in Figures 2-6 and 2-7, a slight noise-induced hearing loss of 20–30 dB HL incurred as a young adult, when combined with a similar amount of hearing loss associated with aging alone, can become a moderate hearing loss of 40–50 dB HL at an age of 50 or 60 years. This amount of hearing loss is often sufficient to interfere with everyday communication, and it may make the individual more aware of the effects of the earlier noise-induced hearing loss, especially in comparison to same-aged peers without prior noise-induced hearing loss (who have approximately half as much hearing loss).Noise and Military Service: Implications for Hearing Loss and Tinnitus at p.204
Another study published in 2011, states that "[i]n humans (Gates et al., 2000) and mice (Kujawa and Liberman, 2006, 2009), exposure to noise while young, even at a level that does not compromise hair cells, is associated with accelerated age-related hearing loss in the aging individual, indicating that deleterious effects of noise continue long after the exposure has ended (Gates, 2006)." The Journal of Neuroscience, May 25, 2011 • 31(21):7948
So while there may not be a consensus in the medical community, according to Wise v. Shinseki, this peer-reviewed, professional article from the Journal of Neuroscience on its own should be more than adequate to put the evidence in favor of a causal connection in approximate balance with the VA’s evidence against a causal connection thereby triggering the benefit of the doubt rule. 38 USC § 5107(b).