The Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea is being remanded due to a duty to assist error. A VA examination is needed to determine if the condition began in or is related to his time in service.
The deciding factor: The decision found that there was no evidence of nexus between sleep apnea and service, but new evidence submitted since the September 2016 rating decision tends to prove or disprove a matter at issue (whether the disability had its onset in service).
- Claimed conditions
- Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 7, 2020
- Citation
- A20018071
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an increased initial evaluation of 70 percent for PTSD but denied evaluations in excess of 10% for tension headaches and in excess of 30% for IBS, and denied service connection for chronic fatigue syndrome. The claims for additional service connections were remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various disabilities, including a back disability, right and left lower extremity peripheral nerve disabilities, a right foot disability, sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus, to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's appeal for an earlier effective date for a TDIU and remanded several service connection claims.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 100 percent disability rating for PTSD, NCD, and TBI prior to May 4, 2023, and restored the 10 percent rating for GERD effective June 8, 2023.
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