The Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including back disability, right and left hip disabilities, tinnitus, sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, anxiety disorder, and depressive disorder are denied. The Board found no new and material evidence to reopen the claim for a back disability. Service connection is granted for tinnitus as related to service-connected PTSD. Service connection is also granted for sleep apnea as caused by service-connected PTSD. Other conditions remain denied.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not provide sufficient evidence to reopen his claims for service connection, and no new or material evidence was received within the required timeframe. The Board found that tinnitus is related to service-connected PTSD, while other conditions were either not shown to be related to service or are not currently present.
- Claimed conditions
- back disability, right hip disability, left hip disability, tinnitus, sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, anxiety disorder, depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19161866
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 19161866.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 21, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for a back disability due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding VA's failure to provide the Veteran with a VA examination prior to the rating decision.
- 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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