The Board remands the claim for a sinus and respiratory condition to obtain an appropriate medical examination to determine if any diagnosed conditions are related or aggravated by exposure to Gulf War environmental hazards.
The deciding factor: The December 2007 VA examiner provided an opinion that the Veteran's nasal condition could have been aggravated by his service in Iraq, but did not specify a current disability and did not rule out smoking as a contributing factor. A new examination is necessary for clarity.
- Claimed conditions
- nasal congestion and allegoric symptoms secondary to toxic irritants while in Iraq
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Gulf War
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 20, 2009
- Citation
- 0910470
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 325 · Granted: 20% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0910470.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbar spine arthritis is aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee disabilities, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Granted
The Veteran's PTSD is granted as service connected due to his fear of hostile military activity during his Vietnam service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, and kidney disease are being remanded due to the need for VA examinations to determine if these conditions are related to his exposure to contaminants in the water supply at Camp Lejeune during service.
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