The Veteran's appeal for service connection of obesity is dismissed. The Board grants secondary service connection for sleep apnea as related to asthma, effective November 5, 2012. The Board denies the request for an earlier effective date for asthma.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection of obesity in August 2018. The Board granted secondary service connection for sleep apnea as related to asthma based on a private examiner's opinion that it was at least as likely as not proximately due to the service-connected asthma. The effective date for asthma is denied because there was no informal claim prior to November 5, 2012.
- Claimed conditions
- obesity, sleep apnea, asthma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- October 24, 2018
- Citation
- 18144374
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 18144374.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
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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