The Veteran is seeking service connection for various conditions including sleep disorders and a heart condition. He also seeks an initial compensable rating for his service-connected bilateral hearing loss.,The Veteran claims he has a heart murmur that was incurred in service or due to his now service-connected disabilities, but the VA examiner found no pre-existing heart disorder at entry into service.,The Veteran contends that he has GERD which is related to military service. The VA examiner determined there is no evidence-based medical literature associating GERD with exposure to infectious agents from the Gulf War.,The Veteran claims his chiari malformation was aggravated by service, but the VA examiner found it congenital in origin and not aggravated during active duty.,The Veteran seeks an initial compensable rating for his bilateral hearing loss. The most recent examination is over 5 years old.
The deciding factor: The claims are remanded as there may be other potential benefits available to the Veteran, including secondary service connection and a new examination is needed.,There was no pre-existing heart disorder at entry into service, so any current heart condition must be determined if it is related to service or his now service-connected disabilities.,The GERD diagnosis cannot be linked to military service as there is no evidence-based medical literature associating GERD with exposure to infectious agents from the Gulf War.,There was a congenital chiari malformation, but it did not appear to be aggravated by any service-connected condition. The examiner found that the current condition is not related to his service-connected disabilities.,The Veteran's bilateral hearing loss disability may have worsened since the last examination and thus requires another examination.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, REM sleep behavior disorder, heart murmur, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), type one chiari
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 30, 2017
- Citation
- 1725228
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 1725228.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
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 obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his active service or any related exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including right shoulder disability, abdominal hernia, GERD, bilateral ankle disabilities, and bilateral foot disabilities. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred or aggravated during the appellant's period of active duty.
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