The Veteran's claims for service connection for a lumbar spine disorder, sleep apnea, and foot fungus condition are granted. The lumbar spine disorder is found to be secondary to his service-connected bilateral knee impairment. Service connection for sleep apnea is established as it preexisted the Veteran's final period of active duty but worsened during that time. The foot fungus condition began during active service.
The deciding factor: The evidence shows that the Veteran’s lumbar spine disorder was aggravated by his service-connected bilateral knee impairment, and his sleep apnea preexisted his final period of active duty but worsened during this period. The foot fungus condition is considered to have begun during active service.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar spine disorder, sleep apnea, foot fungus condition
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2020
- Citation
- 20006840
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 20006840.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
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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