The Veteran's sinusitis is not manifested by incapacitating episodes or three to six non-incapacitating episodes per year characterized by headaches, pain, and purulent discharge or crusting.,The Board has expanded the scope of the Veteran’s claims to encompass any diagnosis raised by the record. The matter is REMANDED for further development as described above.,Entitlement to service connection for a lung disability is remanded due to lack of medical opinion addressing causation related to service, Gulf War exposure, or undiagnosed illness.,The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability (including anxiety, depression, and PTSD) is remanded due to the need for further development as described above.,Entitlement to an initial compensable rating for sinusitis is denied.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence does not show that the Veteran’s sinusitis was manifested by any incapacitating episodes with treatment by a physician or three to six non-incapacitating episodes per year of sinusitis characterized by headaches, pain, and purulent discharge or crusting.,A VA examination is needed to determine whether any disability of the spine is related to service. A VA mental health examination is also needed to determine if the Veteran has a current diagnosis of PTSD and whether it is at least as likely as not related to in-service stressors.,The opinion did not address whether the pulmonary nodules resulted from an infectious process while in service or were causally related to Gulf War exposure. A VA mental health examination is needed to determine if any lung disability began in service or is causally related to service, due to exposure to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune.,The opinion did not address whether the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability (including anxiety, depression, and PTSD) was caused by an in-service stressor. A VA mental health examination is needed to determine if any current psychiatric disability began in service or is causally related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disability (including anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), Cervical spine disability, Lung disability, Sinusitis, Thoracolumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19101478
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,272 · Granted: 31% (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 19101478.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine condition had its onset in service and has continued since then, meeting the criteria for service connection.
- Granted
The Veteran's sinusitis is currently rated at a noncompensable evaluation. The Board has granted a 30 percent evaluation for sinusitis as of February 19, 2021, based on the number and duration of incapacitating episodes requiring antibiotic treatment.
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