The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for bilateral knee and ankle disorders, hypertension, obstructive sleep apnea, and an acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD and Depression) due to inadequate examination opinions and failure to account for the Veteran's statements regarding symptom onset.
The deciding factor: The VA examinations did not adequately address the Veteran's statements about when his symptoms began during service, leading to internal inconsistencies in their opinions.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral Knee Disorder, Bilateral Ankle Disorder, Hypertension, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (including PTSD and Depression)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19158157
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 19158157.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to his service-connected left knee and left ankle conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected other specified insomnia disorder.
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