The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and bilateral knee disabilities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology. The VA is instructed to obtain additional records, schedule the Veteran for examinations, and provide more definitive nexus opinions.
The deciding factor: The initial opinions provided were inadequate as they did not definitively establish a link between the conditions and service.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), bilateral knee disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19101620
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.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the service connection claim for a bilateral knee disability to correct a pre-decisional duty to assist error, including scheduling an additional VA examination.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) based on the Veteran's exposure to in-service chemical agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as secondary to fibromyalgia due to a need for additional medical evidence.
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