The Board has remanded the case for further development and an addendum opinion regarding whether the Veteran's sleep apnea is related to service, including considering his service treatment records and medical articles submitted by him.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner based their negative nexus opinion on the fact of significant weight gain since service, but the Veteran’s service treatment records contain numerous findings of overweight during service. The Board found this factual premise inaccurate and remanded for an addendum opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, traumatic brain injury, cervical spine degenerative disc disease
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 11, 2018
- Citation
- 18109808
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 18109808.
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 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's depression was rated at 50 percent prior to July 1, 2016. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating due to occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity. For TDIU, the Veteran had multiple service-connected disabilities but his education and work experience were sufficient for sedentary or light labor employment.
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