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Denied

The Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea was denied as there is no medical evidence of a current disability during or since service.,Service connection for right lower extremity radiculopathy secondary to his service-connected lumbar spine disability was also denied due to the lack of any current symptoms. The Veteran has not been diagnosed with this condition and denies having such symptoms.,The claim for an increased rating for latent tuberculosis was denied as there is no evidence of active disease or significant impairment, resulting in a 0 percent (non-compensable) disability rating.

The deciding factor: There is no medical record of sleep apnea during service and the Veteran has not been diagnosed with this condition since then. The current symptoms are attributed to a mental health condition rather than service connection.,The Veteran denied any right lower extremity radiculopathy symptoms, and there was no evidence of such in his VA examinations. His tuberculosis disability is currently rated as latent and does not meet the criteria for higher ratings under the applicable diagnostic codes.,There is no active tuberculosis disease or significant impairment to warrant a higher rating. The Veteran's current pulmonary function tests are within normal limits.

Claimed conditions
sleep apnea, right lower extremity radiculopathy, latent tuberculosis
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
December 16, 2020
Citation
A20018688

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 A20018688.

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