Sleep apnea decisions — 2025

The Board granted service connection for hypertension, left elbow pain as secondary to a service-connected condition, and an acquired psychiatric disorder. The increased rating claim for the left wrist was denied.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for tension headaches, right knee strain, left knee strain, right shoulder strain, left shoulder strain, and lumbosacral strain with IVDS due to deficiencies in the duty to assist and inadequate medical opinions.

The Board granted service connection for tinnitus and remanded the claims for service connection for various other conditions, as well as increased rating claims.

The Board granted service connection for lumbosacral strain, left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), and a compensable disability rating for tension/common headaches.

The Board remands the claims for service connection for OSA and MDD to obtain additional medical opinions addressing direct, secondary, and aggravation theories of service connection.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD with major depressive disorder, but denied higher ratings for PTSD and migraine.

The Board awarded an effective date of March 8, 2021 for migraine headaches and a rating of 10 percent for service-connected traumatic brain injury (TBI), but denied earlier effective dates for other conditions.

The Board remands all issues on appeal for the RO to provide the Veteran with notice of his right to a pre-decisional hearing.

The Board denied increased ratings for the veteran's major depressive disorder, lumbosacral strain, right and left lower extremity radiculopathy, chronic right ankle instability, and bilateral hearing loss. The claims for service connection for sleep apnea and gastrointestinal disorder were remanded.

The Board denied a rating greater than 10 percent for allergic rhinitis and remanded claims for service connection for degenerative arthritis of the lumbar spine and obstructive sleep apnea.

The Board denied the veteran's appeal for service connection for various conditions as the appeals were not timely filed.

The Board granted an initial increased disability evaluation rating of 40 percent for service-connected left and right lower extremity radiculopathy, sciatic. The other issues were remanded.

The Board granted service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and remanded the claims for lumbosacral strain and right foot tendinitis.

The Board granted service connection for hypertension and tinnitus, but denied service connection for depression, chronic ear infections, obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), acne, arthritis, heart attack, thyroid disability, right shoulder disability, left shoulder disability, catarrhal fever (common cold), foot disability, ventral hernia, dental disability, and a rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder with bipolar spectrum disorder prior to January 3, 2025.

The appeal was dismissed for the right shoulder rotator cuff tear, sleep apnea was granted as secondary to service-connected PTSD, and left shoulder degenerative arthritis and back injury were denied.

The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities, with obesity as an intermediate step.

The appeal for service connection for a back disorder related to the October 2022 decision has been dismissed due to untimeliness of the appeal.

The Board denied an earlier effective date for service connection of hearing loss and a compensable rating, but remanded the claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea.

The Board granted an initial 30 percent rating for migraine headaches and an effective date of July 30, 2020, for the grant of service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with agoraphobia, TDIU, DEA benefits, and SMC. Other claims were denied.

The Board remands the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea to correct a duty to assist error and obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding secondary aggravation and possible nexus to toxic exposure under the PACT Act.