The Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea has been reopened and granted. Service connection is also established for GERD, effective from April 30, 2012. The claim for depressive disorder remains pending as the effective date prior to November 1, 2011, was denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea is found to be aggravated by his service-connected disabilities, including post-operative and post-treatment residuals of lung cancer and depressive disorder. GERD has been granted based on direct service connection due to its association with Barrett’s Esophagus, which the Veteran claimed in April 2012.
- Claimed conditions
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD), Depressive Disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- April 5, 2019
- Citation
- 19125726
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 various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorders, lumbar and cervical spine disabilities, bilateral radiculopathy of the upper extremities, and bilateral radiculopathy and neuropathy of the lower extremities.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, finding that the Veteran's symptoms more closely approximated those associated with a 50 percent rating.
- Partly granted
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea was granted, while other appeals were dismissed as untimely and remanded for further action on essential tremors.
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