The Board has reopened the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea and granted it, finding that his symptoms began in service and were ultimately diagnosed years later. The evidence supports this conclusion based on lay statements and a medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's symptoms of sleep apnea began during active duty service and was eventually diagnosed many years after service, supported by credible lay statements and a medical opinion from his treating physician.
- Claimed conditions
- Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 4, 2019
- Citation
- 19125055
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,612 · Granted: 16% (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 19125055.
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 service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
- 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.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings and service connection claims have been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for PTSD, denied service connection for CFS, mast cell activation syndrome, and sleep apnea as secondary to PTSD, and remanded TDIU.
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