The Board has remanded the case for additional development and medical examination to determine if any upper respiratory disorder is related to service or a disease/condition during service, or due to or caused by service-connected obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
The deciding factor: The decision was not about service connection but rather the nature and etiology of an upper respiratory disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- upper respiratory disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- January 24, 2019
- Citation
- 19106033
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,886 · Granted: 24% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19106033.
What this means for you
A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for an upper respiratory disorder, to include as due to exposure to environmental hazards during the Persian Gulf War, as there was no current diagnosis of such a condition.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to outstanding medical records and the need for a new VA examination and opinion. The Veteran's claim is being reviewed again as he seeks service connection for an upper respiratory disorder, claimed as sinusitis.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied service connection for a sleep disorder (including obstructive sleep apnea) and an upper respiratory disorder (including sinusitis, allergic rhinitis, and seasonal allergies), finding that the Veteran did not have current diagnoses of these conditions. The Board also found no evidence to support presumptive service connection due to exposure to fine particulate matter.
- Whole decision: Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal, satisfied with the recent rating decision that granted service connection for multiple disabilities previously on appeal.
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