The Board has denied the reopening of the Veteran's claim for service connection for a chronic right shoulder disability, but granted his claim for sleep apnea.,The Veteran was previously denied service connection for his right shoulder disability in 2006. The new evidence submitted does not relate to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate this claim.
The deciding factor: The clinical evidence demonstrates a secondary relationship between the Veteran's current diagnosis of chronic sleep apnea and his regular use of narcotic pain medication prescribed to treat pain associated with his service-connected intervertebral disc syndrome (IVDS) of his cervical spine.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic Right Shoulder Disability, Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2011
- Citation
- 1142143
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 1142143.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
- Denied
The claims for PTSD, an acquired psychiatric disorder, memory loss/memory problems, chronic fatigue, sleep difficulties/sleep disturbances, and sleep apnea have been denied. The claim for service connection for residuals of testicular denervation and varicosectomy has been granted.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's asthma is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.,The Veteran's sleep apnea claim has been remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings and service connection claims have been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for PTSD, denied service connection for CFS, mast cell activation syndrome, and sleep apnea as secondary to PTSD, and remanded TDIU.
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