Sleep apnea decisions — 2024

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and allergic rhinitis, based on presumptive service connection for exposure to fine particulate matter during the Persian Gulf War. Service connection for allergic rhinitis was denied on a direct basis.

The Board has determined that new evidence, including a private opinion from January 2021, supports readjudicating the claim of entitlement to service connection for OSA. The case is remanded due to inadequate opinions regarding secondary service connection.

The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for erectile dysfunction, type II diabetes mellitus, and obstructive sleep apnea due to inadequate rationale in previous VA opinions.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions regarding the nature and etiology of the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The VA must obtain adequate medical opinions as to whether OSA was incurred in or caused by service, including complaints during service. Additionally, an opinion on aggravation is needed.

The Board has granted service connection for type II diabetes mellitus, obstructive sleep apnea, and hypertension. The Veteran's congestive heart failure is also found to be related to his service-connected hypertension.

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient consideration of the Veteran's reports of trouble sleeping during service and their relation to his current sleep apnea diagnosis.

The Board has found a pre-decisional duty to assist error in not affording the Veteran a VA examination for his OSA. The case is remanded to comply with the statutory duty imposed by the PACT Act to secure a toxic exposure risk activity (TERA) memorandum and a TERA-specific medical opinion.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions due to a failure to schedule VA examinations. The Veteran was scheduled but did not attend, and good cause is found for this failure.

The Board granted an initial disability rating of 50 percent for obstructive sleep apnea and denied an effective date prior to June 11, 2015, for the award of service connection.

The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea was diagnosed within one year of his separation from service, meeting the criteria for direct service connection.

The Board denied service connection for right knee osteoarthritis, obstructive sleep apnea, a bilateral hip disability, and bilateral lower extremity radiculopathy as there was no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and the conditions were not shown to be related to service.

Service connection for sleep apnea disorder was restored, and the claims of service connection for heart disorder and skin disorder were granted with effective dates.

The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection of an obstructive sleep apnea disability, secondary to his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder.

The Veteran's appeal of the proposed reduction in his disability rating for lumbosacral strain with degenerative disc disease, anterolisthesis and anteriorthoracic compression fractures, and mild levoconvex scoliosis from 40 to 20 percent is dismissed. The appeal of his claim for service connection for radiculopathy of the right lower extremity is also dismissed as he was granted this benefit in a September 2024 supplemental claim rating decision.

The Board denied service connection for degenerative arthritis lumbosacral spine as the evidence did not support a finding that it was related to an in-service injury or disease.

The Board has denied service connection for a deviated septum and remanded the claim of service connection for sleep apnea due to potential secondary service connection based on obesity.

The Board remands the matter for an addendum opinion addressing the etiology of the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that the Veteran's symptoms began during his military service and have continued since then.

The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as it is considered to have had its onset during active duty service.

The Board has determined that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran's service-connected residuals of mandibular osteotomy caused or aggravated his obstructive sleep apnea, and thus grants service connection for this condition.