Sleep apnea decisions — 2004

The veteran is seeking to reopen his claim for service connection of lumbosacral strain. The Board has decided that new and material evidence must be provided before the claim can be reconsidered.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for further development to ensure compliance with the notice and duty-to-assist provisions of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (VCAA).

The veteran's low back disorder and ankle fractures are not service-connected. The RO denied his claims for increased ratings and TDIU.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development due to VCAA notification deficiencies.

The Board found no evidence of current disability with respect to the veteran's hands, knees or right hip. The Board denied service connection for arthritis and disc disease of the lumbar spine, and arthritis of the thoracic spine, hands, knees, and hips as there was a complete absence of competent medical evidence relating these disabilities to any incident, injury or disease of active military service.

The Board has found that the appellant's degenerative disc disease of the lumbosacral spine originated during his active service and granted service connection for this disability. The other issues were not addressed in detail.

The veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development of his claims, including obtaining VA examination and treatment records.

The Board has determined that new and material evidence has been submitted to reopen the claim of service connection for residuals of a head injury, including seizure disorder and sleep apnea. The veteran's current disabilities are claimed as secondary to an in-service head injury.

The Board found that the veteran's cardiovascular disability, brain injury residuals, cervical spine disability, lumbosacral spine disability, bilateral shoulder and foot disabilities, chest pains, and hearing loss were not incurred in or related to his military service.

The veteran's right sensory neuropathy of the sciatic nerve with lumbosacral strain is rated at 20 percent, effective from its effective date of service connection.

The Board has remanded the case for further development, including obtaining medical records and arranging for VA examinations to assess the severity of the veteran's lumbosacral strain.

The Board dismissed the veteran's appeal due to his withdrawal of the appeal prior to a decision being made.

The Board has remanded the veteran's claims for increased evaluations of her service-connected lumbosacral and cervical spine disabilities due to inadequate examination reports, lack of VCAA notice, and other procedural deficiencies.

The veteran's peptic ulcer disease with gastroesophageal reflux disease is not currently manifested by active duodenal ulcer, weight loss, impairment of health, vomiting, hematemesis, melena, anemia, or incapacitating episodes averaging ten days or more in duration. The residuals of a compression fracture at the L5 level are currently manifested by complaints of pain and numbness in the low back but by essentially negative objective evaluation findings.

The Board has ordered a VA examination to determine if the veteran's current back disorder is related to his military service, as he reported recurrent back pain during his active duty.

The Board has remanded the case for further development and consideration of the veteran's claims for service connection for chronic prostatitis and retinitis pigmentosa.

The veteran's claim for an increased rating for his service-connected chronic lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease is being remanded due to the need for VCAA compliance and consideration of new rating criteria.

The veteran's claims for increased rating and TDIU are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including a VA examination and clarification of her hearing request.

The veteran's claims for increased evaluations of his service-connected lumbosacral strain and schizophrenia are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including new VA examinations.

The veteran is seeking service connection for sleep apnea, which he claims is related to his service-connected coronary artery disease. The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete examination and additional evidence.