The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient development and lack of a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's sleep apnea is aggravated by his service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder.
The deciding factor: The claim requires an examination to determine if the Veteran’s sleep apnea is permanently aggravated by his service-connected acquired psychiatric disorder, as stated in the March 2019 private medical opinion.
- Claimed conditions
- Sleep Apnea, Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (Unspecified Depressive Disorder)
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 7, 2020
- Citation
- 20065063
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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