The Veteran's sleep apnea is granted as secondary to his service-connected disabilities, including PTSD with MDD. The effective date for the grant of service connection for MDD is set at May 16, 2016.
The deciding factor: The private medical opinion provided by Dr. S.D.P. established that the Veteran's sleep apnea was caused or aggravated by his service-connected disabilities, including his psychiatric disorder (MDD).
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, major depressive disorder (MDD), schizoaffective disorder, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with MDD
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- October 30, 2019
- Citation
- 19182244
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,240 · Granted: 28% (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 19182244.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disease manifesting within one year after service and concluding that the current disability is not related to his in-service deviated septum.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's claim of service connection for sleep apnea. The Veteran will be provided with a VA examination to determine if his current sleep disorder is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development, including obtaining in-service psychiatric treatment records and scheduling a VA examination to determine the nature and etiology of any acquired psychiatric disorder.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the issue of service connection for sleep apnea due to insufficient medical opinions and need for further development.
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