The Veteran's claims for headaches, respiratory/lung/breathing disability (to include COPD and/or bronchial asthma), sleep apnea, diarrhea, right ear disability, left ear disability, back disability, joint pain, and muscle pain are granted as new and material evidence has been received. However, the underlying claims of service connection for these conditions remain denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's STRs do not show chronic or recurrent symptoms of any of the claimed conditions during service. The most probative evidence is against finding that his current disabilities are related to service, particularly due to lack of continuity of symptomatology and insufficient medical nexus opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- Back disability, Diarrhea, Disability manifested by joint pain, Disability manifested by muscle pain, Headache/migraine, Left ear disability, Respiratory/lung/breathing disability (to include COPD and/or bronchial asthma), Right ear disability, Sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 27, 2019
- Citation
- 19123271
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,669 · Granted: 23% (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 19123271.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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 claim for service connection of a back disability, finding that there was no evidence to support a nexus between his current condition and active duty service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for sleep apnea and acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD) due to insufficient evidence of record. The Veteran is required to undergo VA examinations to determine if his conditions are related to service.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including bilateral pes planus with hammer toes, hallux valgus and degenerative arthritis, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and bilateral kidney cysts, rendered him unable to secure or follow gainful employment. The Board granted the TDIU based on these conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for a back disability due to incomplete service records and failure to consider all available evidence, including in-service treatment records from F.E. Warren Air Force Base.
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