The Board has vacated its previous decision and granted the Veteran's request to reopen his service connection claims for obstructive sleep apnea and chronic rhinosinusitis. However, both conditions were denied as they are not considered incurred or aggravated during active duty service.
The deciding factor: The Veteran’s state-ordered National Guard service following September 11, 2001 was not considered federal active service for VA disability benefit purposes due to the lack of Presidential order and did not qualify under INACDUTRA or ACDUTRA. The Board found no evidence linking the disabilities to his federal active duty periods.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, chronic rhinosinusitis
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 17, 2020
- Citation
- 20054431
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 20054431.
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 obstructive sleep apnea, finding that there is no competent evidence to support a finding that his current condition began in or as a result of service.
- Denied
The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) has denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as there is no current diagnosis of this condition during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper extremities, and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral lower extremities, finding that there was no evidence linking these conditions to his active service or any related exposure.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for hypertension and obstructive sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a direct relationship to service or toxic exposure. The Veteran's claims were based on his participation in TERA activities during service.
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