The Veteran's nasal disability is granted service connection. The right knee, back, and OSA disabilities are remanded for additional development. Service connection for TBI and acquired psychiatric disorders remains in dispute.
The deciding factor: Service connection was established for the Veteran’s deviated septum due to credible lay statements of an in-service injury from a pugil stick strike, which outweighed the negative opinion provided by the January 2020 examiner regarding the etiology of his nasal disability. The right knee and back disabilities were also remanded as there was insufficient consideration of the Veteran’s credible lay statements regarding injuries during service.
- Claimed conditions
- Nasal disability, Right knee disability, Back disability, Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), Traumatic brain injury (TBI) and residuals, Acquired psychiatric disorder, to include depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 14, 2020
- Citation
- 20066531
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial rating of 20 percent for right lower extremity (RLE) radiculopathy but remanded the back disability claim for further development.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, finding a causal relationship between the condition and an in-service incident of military sexual trauma (MST).
- Denied
The appeal for higher ratings and effective dates for various conditions was denied, with the exception of left and right lower extremity radiculopathy which were granted an earlier effective date.
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