The Board has determined that additional development is necessary and the appeal is, therefore, REMANDED as directed. The issues of service connection for unspecified depressive disorder, obstructive sleep apnea, and cardiomyopathy with acute renal failure are remanded due to unresolved medical evidence regarding their etiology.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including unspecified depressive disorder, were not definitively linked to his active duty service or any other known exposure. The Board found that further development is needed to determine the etiology of these conditions and their relationship to service.
- Claimed conditions
- Unspecified depressive disorder, Obstructive sleep apnea, Cardiomyopathy with acute renal failure
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19106943
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,242 · 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 19106943.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding whether the Veteran's current conditions are aggravated by his service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine. The AOJ is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to his service-connected residuals of left foot 5th metatarsal fracture.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea has been granted, with the effective date set at June 25, 2019.
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