The Board has reopened the claim for service connection for sleep apnea due to new evidence showing a diagnosis of sleep apnea in October 2003. However, the Board found that there is no causal relationship between the Veteran's current sleep apnea and his military service, including any asbestos exposure during active duty or Reserve service.
The deciding factor: The preponderance of the evidence does not support a finding that the Veteran's current sleep apnea began during service or is related to an in-service injury, event, or disease. The Board found the Veteran was not competent to provide a nexus opinion regarding his sleep apnea and did not find additional examination necessary.
- Claimed conditions
- Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19161051
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 19161051.
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.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an increased initial evaluation of 70 percent for PTSD but denied evaluations in excess of 10% for tension headaches and in excess of 30% for IBS, and denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome. The claims for additional service connections were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including a back disability, right and left lower extremity peripheral nerve disabilities, a right foot disability, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for a TDIU and remanded several service connection claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 100 percent disability rating for PTSD, NCD, and TBI prior to May 4, 2023, and restored the 10 percent rating for GERD effective June 8, 2023.
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