The Board found that the Veteran's back disability was not incurred in or aggravated by service and denied his claim. The sleep disorder claim is remanded for further examination to determine if it is related to service-connected PTSD.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner could not provide a clear opinion regarding whether the Veteran has a distinct sleep disorder or merely sleep difficulty symptoms that are an aspect of his service-connected PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- Degenerative joint disease of the low back, Sleep disorder, to include as secondary to PTSD
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2017
- Citation
- 1748853
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 1748853.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for degenerative joint disease of the low back and hypertension, as well as SMC based on being housebound. The evidence did not support a finding that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection and secondary service connection due to insufficient opinions regarding the relationship between the Veteran's low back degenerative joint disease and his left leg neuropathy, specifically whether it is proximately due or aggravated by a service-connected knee condition.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions addressing whether the Veteran's lower back degenerative condition is secondary to his service-connected knee disability. The claim for neuropathy of the left leg will also be remanded as it is inextricably intertwined with the lower back claim.
- Granted
The Veteran's ischemic heart disease is granted as service-connected due to presumed exposure to herbicides during service in the Republic of Vietnam. The low back and bilateral knee disorders are denied as not incurred or caused by service.
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