The Veteran's appeal for service connection for abnormal mitral valve, to include as secondary to congestive heart failure, is dismissed. The claim for service connection for a sleep disorder has been reopened and the appeal is granted. The appeal for an initial rating higher than 30 percent for asthma including pulmonary hypertension (previously rated as pulmonary hypertension with fatigue) is dismissed. The appeal for service connection for sleep apnea, to include as secondary to service-connected heart disease, is remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal on the issue of entitlement to service connection for abnormal mitral valve, to include as secondary to congestive heart failure in an April 2019 statement. The January 2010 rating decision denying service connection for a sleep disorder is final. New and material evidence has been received since the January 2010 RO denial of service connection for a sleep disorder.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep disorder, abnormal mitral valve, asthma with pulmonary hypertension
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19135765
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · 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 19135765.
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.
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