The Board has vacated its October 2018 decision, which denied higher rating and earlier effective date for award of service connection for sinus headaches; and denied the appeal for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea. The case is now remanded to determine if there are any new or material evidence that could support reopening the claims.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional evidence submitted by the Veteran's attorney was not considered in its entirety, warranting vacatur of the October 2018 decision and a remand for further development.
- Claimed conditions
- sinus headaches, obstructive sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19167157
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,963 · Granted: 32% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 19167157.
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 Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his active service or any related exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a direct relationship to service or toxic exposure. The Veteran's claims were based on his participation in TERA activities during service.
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