The veteran's sleep apnea was denied an initial rating in excess of 20 percent, as the disorder has not resulted in chronic respiratory failure, carbon dioxide retention, or cor pulmonale and does not require a tracheostomy.
The deciding factor: The veteran's sleep apnea is consistently productive of daytime sluggishness, snoring, and obstructive breathing at night, with required use of a nasal continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine during times when his service-connected allergic rhinitis aggravates the disorder; however, it has not resulted in chronic respiratory failure, carbon dioxide retention, or cor pulmonale or required a tracheostomy.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 20%
- Decision date
- January 16, 2009
- Citation
- 0902095
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (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 0902095.
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.
- 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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