The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic sinusitis, finding that there is no evidence of a current disability or in-service incurrence and that the Veteran's symptoms are more likely related to post-service exposure rather than his military service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner found that the Veteran's chronic sinusitis was less likely caused by the indicated TERAs from Camp Lejeune water contamination, as there were no studies showing an association of water contamination with chronic sinusitis at the time and risk factors outside of military service outweighed the factors identified in the TERAs.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic sinusitis
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Camp Lejeune water
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 20, 2026
- Citation
- A26015785
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 A26015785.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for chronic rhinitis, chronic sinusitis, and chronic fatigue syndrome as there is no evidence of a current disability in the record.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied service connection for chronic sinusitis and remanded the claim for a lumbar spine disability due to insufficient evidence.
- Dismissed
The appeal seeking readjudication of the previously denied claim for PTSD and multiple other conditions is dismissed due to a procedural defect. The Veteran's authorized representative at the time the appeal was submitted did not have the authority to file the appeal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew their claims for service connection for chronic rhinitis and chronic sinusitis, thus the appeal is dismissed.
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