Sleep apnea decisions — 2018

The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the issues of service connection for dizziness, sleep apnea, headaches, and COPD, all to include as due to herbicide agent exposure.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the award of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of any unadjudicated formal or informal claim for a sleep disability prior to July 19, 2011.

The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for a bilateral lower extremity condition, to include radiculopathy and neuropathy. The disorder was held not to have been clinically established or diagnosed.,The Veteran's claims for obstructive sleep apnea and bronchial asthma are pending as they may be related to exposure to chemical and environmental hazards during the Gulf War.

The Board has found that the Veteran's left knee disability is as likely as not related to his active service, and thus grants service connection for a left knee disability. The issue of sleep apnea remains pending.

The Veteran's claims for effective dates prior to August 23, 2008 for service connection of various conditions were denied as the disabilities preexisted his final period of active duty service and are not shown to have been aggravated during that time.,All awards of service connection and SMC based on these conditions were assigned an effective date of August 23, 2008.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining VA treatment records and providing the Veteran with a statement of the case on his service connection claims.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for a bilateral eye condition.

The Veteran is not entitled to a TDIU from October 10, 2014 to January 2, 2015 because the service-connected PTSD alone does not meet the criteria for a TDIU as he was already receiving a 100% disability rating for this condition. The other service-connected conditions do not provide additional unemployability.

The Board found that the Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render her unable to secure and follow a substantially gainful occupation, thus denying her claim for TDIU.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea has been granted. The claims for increased ratings for right and left knees are pending.

The Veteran's claims are being remanded for additional examinations to determine the severity of his service-connected disabilities and for proper rating determinations.

The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including obtaining private sleep study records and scheduling the Veteran for a VA examination to determine if his sleep apnea is related to service.

The VA examiner found that the Veteran's sleep apnea is less likely than not caused by or aggravated by his service-connected anxiety disorder, and thus denied the claim for secondary service connection.

The Board finds that the Veteran's sleep apnea is proximately due to his service-connected diabetes mellitus type II, and grants service connection for obstructive sleep apnea.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's lumbosacral spine disability, including as secondary to a service-connected right knee condition, was not incurred in or aggravated by service and denied his claim.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's sleep apnea is not service connected, as there is no evidence linking it to his military service or a service-connected disability. The cardiac arrhythmia was found to be at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected myocardial infarction.

The Veteran has withdrawn his appeals for the issues of service connection for hypertension, sleep apnea, PTSD with major depressive disorder prior to May 24, 2012, and degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine from October 14, 2014.

The Veteran withdrew his appeal for the claims of service connection for sleep apnea, increased rating for dysphagia with Odynophagia, and increased rating for paraesophageal hernia, esophagitis with gastric pain, status post cardiothoracic surgery and esophageal duplication cyst resection with reflux.

The Board has granted service connection for residuals of traumatic brain injury, including headaches. The remaining issues concerning entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea and left wrist carpal tunnel syndrome are addressed in the REMAND portion of this decision.

The Veteran's claims for service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including obtaining medical records and verifying herbicide exposure.