Citation Nr: 21072297 Decision Date: 12/02/21 Archive Date: 12/02/21 DOCKET NO. 19-33 002 DATE: December 2, 2021 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include as due to a service-connected head injury is granted. Entitlement to service connection for sinusitis, to include as due to a service-connected head injury is granted. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The probative and competent evidence of record supports that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder, is related to service. 2. The probative and competent evidence of record supports that the Veteran's sinusitis is related to service. CONCLUSIONS OF LAW 1. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include as due to a service-connected head injury have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1111, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a), 3.310. 2. The criteria for entitlement to service connection for sinusitis, to include as due to a service-connected head injury have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1111, 1131, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a), 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS The Veteran served on active duty from January 1966 to May 1967. In a April 2020 decision, the Board denied the claims. The Veteran subsequently appealed that decision to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). In a January 2021 order, the Court granted a Joint Motion for Remand (JMR), which vacated the Board's. The appeal was most recently before the Board in May 2021 when it was remanded for additional development. The Board remand included issues of service connection for residuals of traumatic brain injury and a headache disability as secondary to the head injury. The Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ) granted service connection for head injury with memory loss and stuttering and for post-traumatic headaches, as secondary to the head injury. See October 2021 rating decision. Service Connection Establishing service connection generally requires medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) an in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disability. See Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed.Cir.2009); Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999). Service connection may also be established on a secondary basis for a disability which is proximately due to or the result of service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (a). Establishing service connection on a secondary basis requires evidence sufficient to show (1) that a current disability exists, and (2) that the current disability was either (a) proximately caused or (b) proximately aggravated by a service-connected disability. Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). 1. Entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, to include as due to a service-connected head injury The Veteran contends that he has a psychiatric condition that is causally related to his service. The Board concludes that the Veteran has a current disability that is related to his service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). On VA examination in November 2018, the Veteran was diagnosed with unspecified depressive disorder and mild cognitive disorder. The examiner provided a positive opinion that the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorder was proximately due to or the result of the Veteran's head injury during active service. The examiner's rationale was that "the veteran's reported symptoms are secondary to the manifestations of exposure to the trauma of a blow to the head during Basic Combat Training in February 1966 while serving in the Army." The claim was initially denied because the predicate disability, the head injury, was not service connected. Service connection has since been granted for the head injury. The Board finds the November 2018 VA medical opinion probative that the Veteran's depressive disorder is proximately due to his service-connected head injury. Accordingly, service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder of non-specified depressive disorder is warranted. 2. Service connection for sinusitis, to include as due to a service-connected head injury The Veteran contends that his sinusitis is causally related to his service. The Board concludes that the Veteran has a current disability that is related to his service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton, 557 F.3d at 1363; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). The Veteran's service treatment records document that in April 1967 he complained of experiencing a cough for six months and was diagnosed as having an upper respiratory infection (URI). Pursuant to the Board's May 2021 remand, the Veteran was given a VA examination for his service-connection claim for a head injury. Subsequently, the AOJ granted service-connection for a head injury in an October 2021 rating decision. On VA examination in October 2021, the examiner confirmed the Veteran's diagnosis of chronic sinusitis and provided a positive opinion that the sinusitis was proximately due to or the result of the Veteran's active service. The examiner's rationale was that Veteran's coughing during service was very likely an early manifestation of sinusitis during service. Additionally, the examiner opined that the Veteran's report that during basic training he participated in fighting with long padded sticks where he was frequently struck in the head resulted in structural damage and Traumatic brain Injury (TBI). The examiner further opined that "[c]hanges in environments often elicit changes in the respiratory tract producing drainage and inflammatory responses within the cells similar to allergy-type responses. However, the structural changes are thought to be the primary cause of chronic sinusitis that the veteran developed and has managed since discharge from service." Service connection has been granted for the Veteran's head injury. The Board finds the October 2021 VA medical opinion probative that his sinusitis is proximately due to his service-connected head injury. Accordingly, service connection for sinusitis is warranted. M.E. Larkin Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board M. G. Perkins, Counsel The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.