Citation Nr: 21024347
Decision Date: 04/22/21	Archive Date: 04/22/21

DOCKET NO. 15-04 021A
DATE: April 22, 2021

ORDER

Entitlement to service connection for chronic right maxillary sinusitis is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran’s diagnosed chronic right maxillary sinusitis is a result of his active military service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for entitlement to service connection for chronic right maxillary sinusitis have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from August 1991 to May 1996. 

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a January 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). When this case was last before the Board in June 2018, it was remanded for additional development. The case has now been returned to the Board for further appellate consideration.

Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in active duty service or for aggravation of a pre-existing injury by service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (a). Establishing direct service connection generally requires competent evidence of: (1) a current disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship, i.e., a nexus, between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). After a review of the Veteran’s claims file, the Board finds that the evidence of record supports a grant of service connection for right maxillary sinusitis.

The Veteran was diagnosed with right maxillary sinusitis in November 2012. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in February 2021. The examiner indicated the claimed condition was less likely than not incurred in or caused by the claimed in service injury, event, or illness, concluding the diagnosed conditions were less likely than not due to exposure in Southwest Asia. However, the examiner provided a thorough rationale establishing a nexus as to the Veteran’s service on a basis other than exposure in Southwest Asia. Pursuant to the examiner’s rationale, the Veteran’s allergies became worse due to exposure to various dusts and chemicals while serving in Cuba, resulting in the development of right chronic maxillary sinusitis, referencing the Veteran’s frequent notations in his service treatment records (STRs) for allergy complaints. The examiner also addressed the Veteran’s deviated septum was more likely than not caused by being punch while in service, and that deviated septum led to the worsening of seasonal allergies. Finally, the examiner states the Veteran’s sinusitis was more likely than not a result of failure to treat the chronic allergy condition. 

The Board notes a previous VA examination was conducted in July 2019. The examiner opined the Veteran’s allergy symptoms during service were not causative of sinusitis because he was not diagnosed with sinusitis during service. This opinion does not include supporting medical evidence or rationale; thus, the Board affords it little probative value. 

Accordingly, the Board finds that, with the benefit of the doubt resolved in the Veteran’s favor, a grant of service connection for chronic maxillary sinusitis is warranted. 

 

 

ANTHONY C. SCIRÉ, JR

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans’ Appeals

Attorney for the Board	C. Townsend, Associate 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.