The Board has determined that the VA examinations of record are inadequate to properly adjudicate the Veteran's claim for service connection for a sleep disorder, as they did not address the Veteran’s contentions of direct service connection and provided negative nexus opinions. The case is therefore being remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations failed to consider the Veteran's lay statements regarding symptoms in service and did not provide adequate opinions on the etiology of his sleep disorder or its relationship to PTSD with alcohol dependence.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep disorder (claimed as sleep apnea), PTSD with alcohol dependence
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 2, 2018
- Citation
- 18123297
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 18123297.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for syringomyelia and associated residuals, including sleep apnea, was granted with an effective date of April 25, 2005.,Service connection for voiding dysfunction and bowel dysfunction (associated with syringomyelia) was also granted with an effective date of January 1, 2008.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a respiratory disorder, finding no current disability and no evidence of a relationship to military service. The issues related to gastrointestinal and sleep disorders were remanded for further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for a sleep disorder, low back disability, and left lower extremity disability to ensure that VA's duty to assist is properly fulfilled.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss and denied earlier effective dates, initial ratings higher than 30 percent for chronic adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety, depressed mood, and insomnia, and initial ratings higher than 10 percent for lumbosacral strain. The claims for service connection for various conditions were remanded.
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