The Board has remanded the issues of service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and ratings for right hip and knee disabilities due to inadequate prior examinations.
The deciding factor: The VA medical examinations were found to be inadequate, particularly regarding the Veteran's reports of snoring during service and after service, and the notations in STRs about his tonsillitis. The Board ordered additional examination and opinion to address these issues.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), right hip disability, limitation of extension of the right hip, limitation of flexion of the right hip, limitation of abduction of the right hip, limitation of motion of the right knee, instability of the right knee
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2019
- Citation
- 19177713
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea due to a duty to assist error.
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