Sleep apnea decisions — 2022

The Board has decided to remand the claims for sleep apnea and headaches due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their onset during service or relation to service.

The Board has dismissed all pending appeals due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his claims prior to a decision being made.

The Veteran's claim of service connection for a right leg wound has been reopened due to new evidence, and the case is remanded for further examination and opinion regarding his lumbosacral derangement including herniated discs.

The Board has granted service connection for a cervical spine disorder. The claims for sleep apnea and tension headaches as secondary to the cervical spine disorder are remanded for further development.

The Veteran's appeals for service connection and increased rating have been dismissed due to the Veteran's withdrawal of his appeal.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including right and left knee conditions, a respiratory condition (including asthma), sleep apnea, and headaches. The AOJ is instructed to obtain additional medical records, seek private treatment records, determine qualifying service under 38 C.F.R. § 3.320(a)(4), provide a VA examination for the Veteran's respiratory condition, and obtain an opinion for his headache condition.

The Board has determined that service connection for sleep apnea is granted, finding it at least as likely as not caused or aggravated by the Veteran's service-connected hypertension.

The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development and requests an addendum opinion on whether the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea is related to his military service.

The Veteran's bilateral pes planus is currently rated at 10 percent, but does not meet the criteria for a higher rating due to lack of objective evidence of marked deformity or swelling.,Service connection for OSA was denied as there is no evidence linking it to service.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea is related to his active duty service and granted service connection for this condition.

The Board has remanded the claims for sleep disturbance, GERD, and memory loss due to the unavailability of service treatment records. The Veteran will be afforded VA examinations to determine the nature and etiology of these conditions.

The Board has determined that the VA examinations and medical opinions provided were not sufficient to adjudicate the Veteran's claims for service connection. These matters are being remanded for further development.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claims for service connection for a headache disorder, an acquired psychiatric disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea on secondary basis to his service-connected conditions.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims due to outstanding service personnel records and deficiencies in previous medical opinions regarding his obstructive sleep apnea, lichen nitidus, status post vasectomy with persistent pain syndrome and nodule, erectile dysfunction secondary to status post vasectomy, varicocele secondary to status post vasectomy, and cyst of vas deferens secondary to status post vasectomy.

The Veteran's appeals for PTSD, Sleep Apnea, Liver Cancer, and the service connection claims for Peripheral Vascular Disease of the Bilateral Lower Extremities and Hypertension due to herbicide exposure have all been dismissed.

The Veteran's TDIU from March 2, 2016 is based on service-connected lumbosacral strain with degenerative changes. The Board found that the additional service-connected disabilities (right ankle, left ankle, right knee strain, tinnitus, and left lower extremity radiculopathy) are separate and distinct from the lumbosacral strain.

The Board has granted service connection for hypertension and headaches under the PACT Act. The remaining issues on appeal are remanded due to insufficient evidence regarding the etiology of the Veteran's knee, shoulder, lung, hip, skin, ED, and OSA disabilities.

The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate development of medical evidence, particularly regarding whether the Veteran's service-connected disabilities caused or aggravated his obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disorder (GERD) and obstructive sleep apnea due to secondary service connection theories, including exposure to burn pits during deployment.

The Veteran's claims for service connection of sleep apnea and hypertension, as well as his claim for TDIU, were granted with an effective date of April 16, 2011. The VA also awarded Dependents' Educational Assistance (DEA) benefits effective from the same date.