The Board has dismissed the appellant's appeals for service connection and increased rating claims related to gout, lumbar spine disability, obstructive sleep apnea, GERD, anxiety disorder (claimed as PTSD), and hypertension. The claim for service connection of PTSD is granted.
The deciding factor: The evidence supports a diagnosis of PTSD that is linked to the appellant's fear of hostile military or terrorist activity during his active duty service in Vietnam.
- Claimed conditions
- gout, lumbar spine disability, obstructive sleep apnea, GERD, anxiety disorder (claimed as PTSD), hypertension
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19148663
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 21, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
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