The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for cervical spine, left shoulder, bilateral foot disabilities, obstructive sleep apnea, sinusitis, and asthma due to additional evidentiary development being necessary.
The deciding factor: The VA examiners provided inadequate rationale in their initial opinions, leading to a need for further examination and opinion-giving.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disabilities (to include degenerative joint disease, degenerative disc disease, and intervertebral disc syndrome), left shoulder disability (to include left shoulder degenerative arthritis), bilateral foot disability (to include bilateral pes planus), obstructive sleep apnea, sinusitis, diagnosed as chronic sinusitis and allergic rhinitis, asthma
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19179735
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.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.