The Veteran's TDIU claim is remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions regarding his service-connected disabilities and their impact on his ability to work.
The deciding factor: Additional medical examination is required to determine if the Veteran’s service-connected disabilities, in combination, preclude him from substantially gainful employment.
- Claimed conditions
- musculoskeletal disabilities
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 31, 2019
- Citation
- 19197050
Veterans Law Judge
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 19197050.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as secondary to his service-connected disabilities due to a lack of adequate medical opinions addressing this theory. The case will be returned to the AOJ for further action.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as it is caused by the Veteran's service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities, which led to obesity and OSA.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remanded the veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), considering it as secondary to service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities with obesity as an intermediate step. The VA needs to provide a new medical examination and opinion.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the evidence is insufficient to establish service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to an acquired psychiatric disability and/or musculoskeletal disabilities, and thus remands the case for further development.
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