The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for sleep apnea, heart disability, prostate cancer, and bladder cancer due to in-service exposure to trichloroethylene (TCE). The VA is required to obtain relevant treatment records from VA facilities and a University Medical Center. A medical opinion is needed to determine if these conditions are related to service or TCE exposure.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the claims for service connection were not decided on the merits due to outstanding evidence, specifically VA treatment records and records from the University Medical Center in Las Vegas, Nevada.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, heart disability, prostate cancer, bladder cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19196964
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 19196964.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and no competent evidence linking the condition to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for prostate cancer, related to in-service exposures at Camp Lejeune.
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