The veteran's claims for service connection and increased ratings were denied as the evidence did not support the presence of a disability or sufficient severity to warrant higher ratings.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence failed to show that the veteran met the criteria for any of the claimed conditions, including hearing loss in his left ear, asthma, GERD, back pain, sleep apnea, allergic rhinitis, skin conditions, and foot deformities.
- Claimed conditions
- left ear hearing loss, asthma, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), lower back disability, sleep apnea, allergic rhinitis, scar over the left eyebrow, skin conditions, hallux valgus/hammertoe deformity of the right foot, hallux valgus/hammertoe deformity of the left foot
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 15, 2009
- Citation
- 0901667
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,020 · Granted: 19% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 0901667.
What this means for you
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What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disease manifesting within one year after service and concluding that the current disability is not related to his in-service deviated septum.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's claim of service connection for sleep apnea. The Veteran will be provided with a VA examination to determine if his current sleep disorder is related to his military service.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an initial compensable disability rating for onychomycosis was denied as the condition did not require treatment and covered less than 5% of his body. The Board also remanded issues regarding service connection for left ear hearing loss and entitlement to a compensable disability rating for right ear hearing loss.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the issue of service connection for sleep apnea due to insufficient medical opinions and need for further development.
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