The Board denied an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for sleep apnea as secondary to PTSD, finding that the Veteran did not exhibit clear signs and symptoms of sleep apnea until June 15, 2016.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's sleep apnea was not diagnosed prior to June 15, 2016, due to a previous VA examination which relied on an outdated sleep study from 2006.
- Claimed conditions
- Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 21, 2019
- Citation
- 19188202
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 19188202.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an increased initial evaluation of 70 percent for PTSD but denied evaluations in excess of 10% for tension headaches and in excess of 30% for IBS, and denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome. The claims for additional service connections were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including a back disability, right and left lower extremity peripheral nerve disabilities, a right foot disability, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for a TDIU and remanded several service connection claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 100 percent disability rating for PTSD, NCD, and TBI prior to May 4, 2023, and restored the 10 percent rating for GERD effective June 8, 2023.
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