The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional examinations and opinions to address the nature and etiology of his sleep apnea, as well as the severity of his back disability with associated radiculopathy of the bilateral lower extremities. The issues of service connection for sleep apnea, ratings for lumbar strain with degenerative arthritis, radiculopathy of the left and right lower extremities, and TDIU are also remanded.
The deciding factor: The Board finds that duty to assist errors occurred prior to the issuance of the respective decisions on appeal, necessitating a remand for additional examinations and opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, lumbar strain with degenerative arthritis, r radiculopathy of the left lower extremity affecting the sciatic nerve, r radiculopathy of the right lower extremity affecting the sciatic nerve
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 19, 2019
- Citation
- A19002913
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,676 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19002913.
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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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