The Board has decided to remand the cases for further development and consideration. Specifically, a medical opinion is needed regarding whether the Veteran's sleep apnea is secondary to his service-connected deviated septum and whether his TMJ is related to his military service.
The deciding factor: The opinions provided by previous examiners were inadequate as they only addressed causation but not both causation and aggravation in the case of secondary service connection for sleep apnea. For TMJ, there are missing records from the Veteran's dental surgery in 1975 which need to be obtained.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, limited motion of temporomandibular articulation (TMJ)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- July 16, 2020
- Citation
- 20047758
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 20047758.
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.
- 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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