The Veteran's claims for service connection for a back disability, right heel strain, sleep apnea, migraine headaches, right carpal tunnel syndrome, and eye disability (secondary to PTSD) have all been denied.,Service connection was not granted for any of the claimed conditions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners provided opinions that the Veteran's current disabilities are not related to his service. The diagnoses were based on clinical presentations and lack of objective evidence from service.
- Claimed conditions
- Back Disability, Eye Disability (including as secondary to PTSD), Migraine Headaches, Right Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Right Heel Strain, Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19110061
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,104 · Granted: 28% (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 19110061.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
- Granted
The Veteran's 50% disability rating for migraine headaches was restored as the evidence did not show actual improvement in his ability to function under ordinary conditions of life and work.
- Denied
The claims for PTSD, an acquired psychiatric disorder, memory loss/memory problems, chronic fatigue, sleep difficulties/sleep disturbances, and sleep apnea have been denied. The claim for service connection for residuals of testicular denervation and varicosectomy has been granted.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's asthma is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.,The Veteran's sleep apnea claim has been remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
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