The Board denied service connection for left hand, right hand, left shoulder, and right shoulder conditions due to a lack of evidence linking these disabilities to the Veteran's active duty service.,Service connection was also denied for sleep apnea as there is no evidence that it began during service or is related to any in-service injury.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran’s current hand conditions, including fibromyalgia, were incurred during his active duty service. The diagnoses are attributed to specific etiologies such as previous injuries and degenerative processes.,Regarding sleep apnea, there is no evidence linking it to any in-service injury or disease.
- Claimed conditions
- left elbow condition, left hand condition, left shoulder condition, right hand condition, right shoulder condition, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 15, 2019
- Citation
- 19137810
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,435 · Granted: 22% (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 19137810.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection are being remanded due to the need for additional development, including VA examinations.
- 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.
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