The appeal for service connection for leukopenia is dismissed. The appeals for service connection for right shoulder osteoarthritis, left shoulder osteoarthritis with chronic tendonitis and impingement syndrome, plantar fasciitis of the left foot, right knee chondromalacia of the patella, and sleep apnea are remanded.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for leukopenia during a hearing before the Board. The appeals for other conditions are remanded due to need for additional medical examination and evaluation.
- Claimed conditions
- leukopenia, right shoulder osteoarthritis (right shoulder disability), left shoulder osteoarthritis with chronic tendonitis and impingement syndrome (left shoulder disability), plantar fasciitis of the left foot, right knee, chondromalacia of the patella, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 6, 2020
- Citation
- 20000417
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,506 · Granted: 43% (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 20000417.
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
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 decided to remand the issue of service connection for sleep apnea due to insufficient medical opinions and need for further development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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