The Board has granted service connection for chronic allergic rhinitis and denied service connection for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, bilateral flat feet/fallen arches, and a respiratory condition (to include shortness of breath). The issue of service connection for sinusitis is remanded.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner provided an incomplete etiological opinion that did not address the Veteran's lay statements regarding continuity of symptomatology. As such, the Board found in favor of the Veteran on this claim due to the probative value of his competent and credible lay statements.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic allergic rhinitis, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, bilateral flat feet/fallen arches, respiratory condition (to include shortness of breath)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 6, 2026
- Citation
- A26020583
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 A26020583.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's initial claim for service-connected bilateral sensorineural hearing loss was denied, and the rating assigned prior to September 12, 2024, is noncompensable.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for chronic allergic rhinitis, which was received on November 26, 2024, and is based on presumed exposure to fine particulate matter during his service in the Gulf War theater of operations, has been granted with an effective date of November 26, 2023. The Veteran's claim for a compensable rating for chronic allergic rhinitis remains pending.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, tinnitus, thoracolumbar levoscoliosis with advanced multilevel DDD and facet arthropathy (low back disability), and cervical spine disability to include cervicalgia (neck disability) due to a lack of VA examination records and an incomplete review of service treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's service connection claims for hypertension, bilateral sensorineural hearing loss, GERD, Barrett's esophagus, and arrhythmia are remanded due to pre-decisional errors in obtaining necessary medical opinions.
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