Allergic rhinitis decisions — 2018

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the onset and relationship of the Veteran's respiratory disorder to service, including potential environmental exposures.

The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to incomplete information regarding his National Guard service, inadequate medical opinions on the nature of his conditions, and potential issues with prior rating decisions.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly evaluate the Veteran's service-connected disabilities and remands several issues for further action.

The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea and remanded the issues of service connection for respiratory obstruction, sinusitis, and allergic rhinitis. The decision is mixed as some claims are granted while others are denied.

The Board has granted service connection for right knee osteoarthritis as secondary to a service-connected left knee disability and reopened the claim for allergic rhinitis, finding new evidence that supports the Veteran's claim.

Service connection is granted for a right knee disability, secondary to the Veteran's service-connected left knee disability.,A rating of 50 percent, but no higher, is granted for bilateral flatfoot.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from obtaining or maintaining any gainful employment, and he is therefore denied a TDIU.

The Board has remanded several issues for further examination and opinion, including service connection claims for various conditions. The Veteran's enlarged thyroid is not compensable due to lack of findings or symptoms attributable to the condition.

The Veteran's claims for service connection for a back condition, neck condition, chronic rhinitis, and tropical skin rash have all been denied. The Board found that the evidence does not support a finding of a current disability related to an in-service event or injury.,There is no medical evidence linking any of these conditions to service.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding whether the Veteran's sleep apnea is caused or aggravated by her service-connected asthma, allergic rhinitis, and/or sinusitis. The Veteran will need a new examination to determine this.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not meet the criteria for specially adapted housing or a special home adaptation grant due to lack of loss of use, blindness, or severe burn injury. The Board found no inhalation injury and denied eligibility.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's claims for service connection are inextricably intertwined and requires additional medical opinions to address the etiology of his conditions, including septal deviation, epistaxis, sinusitis, and obstructive sleep apnea. The claims will be remanded.

The Board has ordered the Veteran's VA vocational rehabilitation folder to be obtained and associated with his e-file. They are also requesting an addendum from a previous examiner who evaluated him in June 2016, asking them to provide an opinion on whether the Veteran’s currently diagnosed bronchitis and allergic rhinitis had their clinical onset during active service or is otherwise etiologically related to any incident of service.

The Veteran's appeal for purchasing a bed and chair under the Chapter 31 benefits was denied because the items were not deemed necessary to maintain independence in daily living.

The Board denied service connection for a lumbar spine disability, denied increased ratings for sinusitis and rhinitis with deviated septum, and denied earlier effective dates for the grant of service connection for sleep apnea and SMC at the housebound rate.

The Veteran's rhinitis has not been manifested by polyps or bilateral obstruction of the nasal passage greater than 50 percent or unilateral complete obstruction, so a compensable rating is denied.

The Veteran's application to reopen a claim of entitlement to service connection for rhinitis, secondary to sleep apnea, is granted. Entitlement to service connection for hypertension, as secondary to service-connected disabilities, is also granted.

Allergic rhinitis and tension headaches service connection granted.,CAD secondary to hypertension service connection issue remanded.

The Veteran's appeal for a compensable rating for allergic rhinitis was dismissed. The Board also considered the issue of TDIU prior to December 21, 2015 and remanded it.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for back disorder, left ankle disorder, tinnitus, sinusitis, rhinitis, and residuals of a traumatic brain injury (TBI), to include facial drooping and right eye disorder due to potential inadequacy of the VA examination reports.