The Veteran's service connection claims for obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, and headaches due to PTSD are denied.,Obstructive sleep apnea is not considered secondary to PTSD. The examiner found that obesity causes sleep apnea rather than PTSD.,Hypertension was also not considered secondary to PTSD. The examiner noted multiple risk factors for hypertension including age, family history, and obesity.
The deciding factor: The medical opinions determined that the Veteran's sleep apnea, hypertension, and headaches were less likely caused or aggravated by his service-connected PTSD.,Obstructive sleep apnea is not considered secondary to PTSD as it is typically related to soft tissue or structural abnormalities rather than mental health conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, headaches
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 10, 2020
- Citation
- 20002474
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,088 · Granted: 33% (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 20002474.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's headaches are at least as likely as not caused by his service-connected traumatic brain injury, and thus grants service connection for this condition.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
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