Sleep apnea decisions — 2003

The Board has restored a 40% rating for the veteran's postoperative lumbosacral disc disease, finding that reduction was not proper. The propriety of reducing the rating for the surgical scar remains under consideration.

The Board denied the veteran's claim for an initial compensable rating for retinitis pigmentosa from April 27, 1976 to October 16, 1990 due to a lack of evidence showing active pathology during that period.

The Board has determined that the veteran does not have a right ankle disability related to service and his lumbosacral strain is currently rated at 20 percent, but there is no evidence of any new or material evidence to reopen the claim. The appeal for an increased rating remains denied.

The Board denied service connection for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated by military service.

The Board found that the veteran's prostatitis was not incurred in service and denied his claim for service connection. The Board also found no new and material evidence to reopen his claim for retinitis pigmentosa.

The veteran's service-connected chronic lumbosacral strain is rated at 40 percent, the maximum allowed under VA rating criteria. The Board found that his symptoms more closely approximated severe lumbosacral strain with significant functional loss due to painful limited motion of the spine.

The veteran's lumbosacral disc disease has been rated at 40 percent since February 17, 2001. The RO also increased the evaluation for his left ankle sprain to 40 percent effective from that date.

The veteran's claims for higher evaluations for his right wrist disability, cervical spine degenerative disc disease, and lumbosacral strain have been granted. He is now rated at 20 percent for each of these conditions.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claim of service connection for lumbosacral disc disease and assigned a new rating for his service-connected lumbosacral strain. The case is remanded to obtain additional medical records, conduct an examination, and determine if the veteran's current lumbar disc disease is related to service or service-connected conditions.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for lumbosacral strain, service connection for hypertension, and reopening of a claim for service connection for anxiety neurosis. The decision also noted that new and material evidence had been received to reopen the claim for anxiety neurosis.

The Board has granted a 70 percent evaluation for the veteran's postoperative right shoulder replacement, effective March 14, 1995. The lumbar spine disability remains at 60 percent.

The veteran's appeal for an increased rating for his service-connected lumbosacral strain was granted, with a 20 percent rating effective September 1995. The RO conducted additional examinations and provided the veteran with further development of his claim.

The Board has granted service connection for disability due to retinitis pigmentosa, but denied the other issues on appeal.

The Board has determined that the appellant's spondylolisthesis of the lumbosacral spine warrants a 60 percent evaluation, which is the maximum available under current rating criteria.

The Board found that the veteran's sleep apnea did not begin in service, is not related to his service-connected esophagitis secondary to a hiatal hernia, and is not otherwise attributable to military service. As such, the claim for service connection was denied.

The veteran's low back disability is service-connected and his right shoulder disability is not. The RO granted an increased rating for the residuals of a fracture of the right tibia.

The veteran's cervical strain is rated at 30 percent, lumbosacral strain at 40 percent, and chronic synovitis of the left knee at 10 percent. The veteran also meets criteria for a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.

The Board found new and material evidence to reopen the claim for a lumbosacral strain, but did not find it sufficient to establish service connection.

The veteran's claims for increased evaluations for his right hip, low back, and right knee conditions were granted. The current evaluations of 20 percent, 10 percent, and 10 percent for these conditions are maintained.

The Board found that the veteran's service-connected disabilities did not cause or contribute substantially to his death. The medical complications surrounding his death were reasonably foreseeable at the time of his death.