Sleep apnea decisions — 2022

The Veteran's hypertension requires medication for continuous control and warrants a 10 percent rating. The Board has granted a higher 10 percent rating, but remanded due to worsening symptoms. Service connection claims are also remanded for VA opinions on the etiologies of back disability, neck disability, hearing loss, sleep apnea, prostate cancer, and PTSD.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for sleep apnea and TDIU due to insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between his current sleep apnea and his service-connected conditions.

The Veteran's back disability was rated at 20 percent from April 28, 2016 to April 7, 2019. The Board denied a TDIU prior to April 8, 2019 due to insufficient evidence showing the Veteran could not secure or follow substantially gainful employment.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to ensure the Veteran's and his attorney representative are properly informed of requests for evidence, and to obtain any outstanding records. The claims will be remanded for further action.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinion regarding service connection for obstructive sleep apnea. The Veteran's claim is related to his service in the Southeast Asia Theater of Operations during the Gulf War.

The Veteran's service connection claims for allergic rhinitis, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), and hypertension are being remanded due to the addition of new medical records. The Board will reassess these claims based on all available evidence.

The Board has denied service connection for bilateral flatfeet, jaw condition, left shoulder condition, right shoulder condition, left wrist condition, and right wrist condition. The Veteran's sleep apnea claim was also denied.

The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to a service-connected condition (rhinitis), but remanded the issue of service connection for sinusitis.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's OSA and whether her service-connected PTSD aggravated it. The VA must obtain a new opinion from an appropriate clinician.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea and her service-connected allergic rhinitis and asthma. The examiner is asked to provide a more detailed opinion on whether the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea was aggravated by her service-connected conditions.

The Board dismissed all appeals due to the death of the appellant.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate examination and reasoning regarding service connection for sleep apnea, causation of obesity by service-connected disabilities, and aggravation of sleep apnea by obesity. A new VA examination is required.

The Veteran's appeals have been dismissed due to his voluntary withdrawal of the appeal on three occasions.

The Board has denied an increased rating for the Veteran's lumbosacral spine disability and has remanded the issue of total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to July 26, 2017.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claim for obstructive sleep apnea due to insufficient evidence in the record, specifically regarding lay statements from the Veteran and his family members.

The Board has dismissed appeals for initial ratings and effective dates related to depression, anxiety, and a low back disability. The remaining issues of increased ratings for the low back disability and lower extremity radiculopathy, as well as service connection for upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, are being remanded.

The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a lumbar spine disorder due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of his back condition. The case is being returned for further evaluation.

The Veteran's application to reopen his claim for service connection of a back disability is granted. The Board has determined that the evidence received since the final October 1969 decision relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim and raises a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claim. Service connection for a psychiatric disability, to include substance abuse, remains remanded.

The Veteran's low back disability was initially rated at 10% prior to April 4, 2016 and then increased to 20% from that date. His radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is currently rated at 20%, while his left lower extremity radiculopathy remains at a 10% rating.

The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including his PTSD and sleep apnea, have rendered him unable to secure or follow a substantially gainful occupation. The Board has granted TDIU based on the combined effect of these conditions.