The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to new evidence submitted by the Veteran, including medical treatise evidence that addressed possible relationships between sleep, gastrointestinal problems, and headaches and PTSD. The claims are now recharacterized as secondary service connection.
The deciding factor: New evidence raised the theory of secondary service connection with respect to the claims for service connection for sleep apnea, headaches, and gastrointestinal disability, each to include as secondary to PTSD.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic fatigue, gastrointestinal disability (irritable bowel syndrome), headaches, joint pain of the shoulders, knees, elbows, feet, and neck, muscle pain in the arms and thighs, respiratory disability, sleep apnea, thoracolumbar spine disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19153888
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 19153888.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a direct service connection opinion and an adequate secondary service connection aggravation opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for headaches and increased ratings for left shoulder rotator cuff tear, right shoulder rotator cuff tear, hypertension, and left and right leg restless leg syndrome. The Board denied a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss and an initial rating in excess of 70 percent for posttraumatic stress disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including bilateral hearing loss and various musculoskeletal issues, as well as an initial rating in excess of 0 percent for rhinitis. However, the Board granted a 70 percent rating for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
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