The Board denied service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the Veteran's current diagnosis did not begin in service and is not causally related to her service-connected right maxillary sinusitis with chronic rhinitis and headache. The Board also found that the sinusitis did not cause or worsen the sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner determined that the Veteran’s service-connected sinusitis with rhinitis did not cause or aggravate sleep apnea, as there was no significant obstruction of nasal passages from the sinusitis. The Board also found the Veteran's lay statements about causation to be of no probative value.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, right maxillary sinusitis with chronic rhinitis and headache (sinusitis with rhinitis)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 2, 2019
- Citation
- 19124712
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,200 · Granted: 43% (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 19124712.
What this means for you
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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 for sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disease manifesting within one year after service and concluding that the current disability is not related to his in-service deviated septum.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's claim of service connection for sleep apnea. The Veteran will be provided with a VA examination to determine if his current sleep disorder is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the issue of service connection for sleep apnea due to insufficient medical opinions and need for further development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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