The Veteran's service connection claim for sleep apnea is granted, as the evidence is in equipoise regarding whether his condition had its onset during service. The claims for degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine and left hand numbness are remanded due to inadequate VA examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner did not consider the Veteran's lay statements about in-service experiences with full body armor, Kevlar helmet, free-falls, and static-line parachute jumps that may have contributed to his current degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine. The left hand numbness claim also requires an opinion on whether it is related to the cervical spine condition.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, degenerative joint disease of the cervical spine, left hand numbness
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 25, 2018
- Citation
- 1804908
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 1804908.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a direct service connection opinion and an adequate secondary service connection aggravation opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
- Dismissed
The appeal for service connection for sleep apnea is dismissed as the benefit sought has been granted, making the case moot.
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