The Board denied service connection for a respiratory disability, including rhinitis and sinusitis, finding that the Veteran's symptoms did not start during or as a result of his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners found no evidence linking the current respiratory disability to service, with one episode of sinusitis in 1974 being the only documented incident related to service. The Board assigned probative weight to these opinions and concluded that there was not sufficient medical evidence to support a connection between the Veteran's current condition and his military service.
- Claimed conditions
- rhinitis, sinusitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20005647
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,549 · Granted: 29% (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 20005647.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's rhinitis and gastric ulcer with hiatal hernia were evaluated, but the Board found that neither condition warranted a higher rating.,For rhinitis, the evidence did not show greater than 50 percent obstruction of both nasal passages or complete obstruction on one side. For gastric ulcer with hiatal hernia, symptoms were described as infrequent and mild.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found a pre-decisional duty to assist error and has ordered the case back to the AOJ for proper notice regarding the Veteran's right to a hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's initial claim for an increased rating for sinusitis is being remanded due to a failure by the AOJ to provide proper notice of his right to a hearing.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for sinusitis and remanded the Veteran's claims for chronic lower back pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, neck pain, and GERD.
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