Sinusitis decisions — 2012

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, headaches, chronic fatigue syndrome, and sinusitis. The Veteran's symptoms were continuous since service and are related to his military service.

The Veteran's respiratory disorders other than COPD were diagnosed decades after service and are not related to his active duty service, including exposure to 'stack gas' or chemical exposure during Project 112- SHAD.

The Board has granted service connection for tinnitus, bilateral hearing loss, and other conditions based on in-service exposure to noise and physical trauma. The Veteran's current symptoms are consistent with his reported history of service-connected disabilities.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeal concerning the issues of service connection for memory loss and problems concentrating, neurological disorder resulting in tremors, sinusitis and frequent respiratory infections, all to include as due to an undiagnosed illness, and service connection for PTSD.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional examinations and development of records.

The Board dismissed the Veteran's appeal due to his death, and thus no jurisdiction remains for further action.

The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for an ENT condition, sinusitis, and esophagus condition due to the Veteran's conflicting statements about how he broke his nose in service. The claims are being readjudicated after completing the development requested.

The Veteran's claims for increased evaluations for bilateral hearing loss, maxillary sinusitis with vasomotor rhinitis, and tinnitus have been denied as the maximum schedular ratings are already assigned.

The Veteran's claims are being remanded to obtain additional service records and verify his claimed periods of active duty, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA. The Board will then consider the remaining issues for service connection.

The Board found that the Veteran's current chronic recurrent rhinosinusitis is not related to his military service and denied his claim for service connection.

The Board found that the Veteran's current allergic rhinitis was not incurred in or aggravated by service, including his episode of acute rhino-sinusitis during service. The claim for service connection is denied.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination of her left knee disability and issuance of a statement of the case regarding her chronic sinusitis claim.

The Veteran's timely Substantive Appeal allowed for the reopening of his claims and granted him increased ratings for lumbosacral strain and cervical strain, effective from October 6, 2009.

The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea and chronic sinusitis with allergic rhinitis are found to have first manifested during military service, and the Board finds that these conditions are presumed to be related to his active duty.,The Veteran is currently diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea and chronic sinusitis with allergic rhinitis. Both conditions were shown to have begun during military service.

The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for residuals of head injury, but remands it to obtain a clarification on the VA examiner's opinion regarding the relationship between his current headaches and in-service head injury.

The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining medical records and providing a VA examination to determine if the Veteran has a respiratory disability related to service or secondary to her service-connected sinusitis.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claims, including obtaining medical opinions and records.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD was previously denied due to lack of a verified in-service stressor. New evidence received since the previous denial does not raise a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim.

The Veteran's claim for an increased evaluation for allergic rhinitis with intermittent sinusitis was denied as the evidence did not show any incapacitating episodes of sinusitis, polyps, or obstruction of nasal passage.

The Board found no evidence linking the Veteran's current conditions to his military service and denied all claims for service connection.