The Veteran's appeals for service connection for sleep apnea, seizure disorder, and TDIU have been dismissed. The appeal regarding the extension of a temporary total disability rating based on convalescence has also been dismissed. The remaining issues are remanded for further evaluation.
The deciding factor: The Veteran withdrew his appeals for sleep apnea, seizure disorder, and TDIU at his October 2019 hearing.
- Claimed conditions
- Cervical spine disability, Seizure disorder (claimed as secondary to cervical spine disability), Sleep apnea (claimed as secondary to cervical spine disability), Lumbar spine disability, Radiculopathy of the right lower extremity, Radiculopathy of the left lower extremity
- 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
- 20002543
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (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 20002543.
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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 extraschedular ratings for the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine and lower extremity radiculopathy disabilities, as well as a total disability rating based on individual unemployability prior to February 3, 2011.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected cervical spine disability is rated at 20 percent, the maximum rating available under the General Formula for Diseases and Injuries of the Spine. The evidence does not support a higher rating as his range of motion did not meet the criteria for an increased rating.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims for service connection for brain cancer, low back disability, and cervical spine disability due to a pre-decisional error in failing to obtain a radiation dose estimate from the Under Secretary for Health. The Veteran's military service aboard USS ENTERPRISE is considered relevant to his exposure to ionizing radiation.
- Granted
The Veteran's cervical spine condition had its onset in service and has continued since then, meeting the criteria for service connection.
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