The Board has determined that a VA examination is necessary to determine the nature and etiology of any retinal degeneration, loss of depth perception, cerumen impaction, and sleep disorder (to include sleep apnea) found to be present during the appeal period. The claims are being remanded for these examinations.
The deciding factor: The Board cannot make a fully informed decision on the issues without an examination to determine if any current disabilities are related to service or pre-existing conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- retinal degeneration, loss of depth perception, cerumen impaction, sleep disorder (to include sleep apnea)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2019
- Citation
- 19121896
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,037 · 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 19121896.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for alopecia areata, cerumen impaction, pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), and hypertension.
- Granted
The Veteran's left knee disability, diagnosed as left knee osteochondral defect, is granted service connection. The low back disorder and neck disorder are denied service connection. Service connection for the sleep disorder (to include sleep apnea) is remanded.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for service connection for right shoulder osteoarthritis, sleep disorder (to include sleep apnea), and left knee disorder have all been denied.,Service connection was not granted for a sleep disorder due to the lack of evidence showing it during or within one year after separation from service. The Board found that there is no competent medical evidence linking any current sleep disorder to service.,The Veteran's claim for service connection for left knee disorder was also denied as there is no evidence of a diagnosed condition during service and no competent medical evidence linking the current condition to service.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's claim for service connection for tinnitus has been granted. The claims for bilateral hearing loss, left foot bone sprain, residuals of a left foot ganglion cyst removal, depressive disorder other than PTSD, low back disorder, sinusitis, radiating right lower extremity pain, sleep disorder (to include sleep apnea), and migraine headaches have all been remanded due to the need for additional development.
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