The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is reopened, and the case is remanded to obtain a medical opinion regarding the relationship between her benign snoring syndrome and sleep apnea. The Veteran's Gulf War undiagnosed illness claims are also remanded.
The deciding factor: New evidence received since the prior denial relates to an unestablished fact necessary to substantiate the claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, specifically whether it is related to her benign snoring syndrome and/or in-service. The Gulf War undiagnosed illness claims are remanded as they require a determination of whether the Veteran's symptoms are part of a medically unexplained chronic multisymptom illness.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, chronic fatigue, headaches, joint pain, cardiovascular signs, gastrointestinal disorders, menstrual disorders, muscle pain, skin condition, sleep disturbances
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19100608
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,446 · Granted: 21% (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 19100608.
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 Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to incomplete development of records and will provide a supplemental statement of the case if necessary.
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