The Veteran's petition to reopen his claim for service connection for sleep apnea secondary to his service-connected anxiety disability is granted. The Board finds that a remand is necessary as the VA examiner did not adequately address whether the Veteran’s obesity, caused by his service-connected anxiety condition, was a substantial factor in causing or aggravating his sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion did not sufficiently address the relationship between the Veteran's obesity and his service-connected anxiety disability, which is necessary to determine if it is at least as likely as not that the obesity caused or aggravated his sleep apnea.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, obesity
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19129254
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,592 · Granted: 19% (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 19129254.
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 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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