The Veteran's service connection claim for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is denied because there is no evidence that OSA was incurred or aggravated by his military service, including exposure to the Persian Gulf environment. The VA examiner found that OSA is not related to his in-service period of service.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner concluded that OSA is not causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident during service and provided a rationale based on medical literature and the Veteran's records.
- Claimed conditions
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 5, 2018
- Citation
- 18140708
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 18140708.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, left knee disability, and right knee disability. The claims for urinary frequency disability and residuals of a cholecystectomy were denied.
- Partly granted
The Board denied an initial increased rating for diabetes mellitus type II and remanded the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, right shoulder strain with acromioclavicular joint osteoarthritis and tendinitis, cervical spine spondylosis, left knee degenerative arthritis, right knee degenerative arthritis, and thoracolumbar scoliosis and lumbar spine degenerative changes.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea as it requires further development and evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for OSA secondary to the Veteran's service-connected PTSD, but denied service connection for BPPV and hypotension, to include as secondary to service-connected PTSD.
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