The Veteran's tinnitus claim is granted, while his sleep apnea claim is denied. The right and left knee retropatellar pain syndrome claims are remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s tinnitus is related to service exposure. Sleep apnea was not shown in service and is not causally or etiologically related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- tinnitus, sleep apnea, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, acid reflux, erectile dysfunction, peripheral neuropathy of the left upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the left lower extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right upper extremity, peripheral neuropathy of the right lower extremity, bilateral hearing loss disability, cervical spine disability, acquired psychiatric disability (PTSD and adjustment disorder)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19187634
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,858 · Granted: 24% (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 19187634.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hypertension and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities due to insufficient medical opinions regarding their etiology.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for diabetes mellitus type II with erectile dysfunction was denied as the evidence did not show that he had been diagnosed and manifested to at least a 10 percent disability rating on or prior to May 8, 2001.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for hearing loss, tinnitus, and an acquired psychiatric disorder due to incomplete medical records and need for further examination.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for tinnitus, arthritis, and memory loss. The decision found no evidence linking these conditions to his military service.
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