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Denied

The Board denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding that the Veteran's current condition is not related to his military service or a service-connected disability. The gastrointestinal disorder claim was remanded due to incomplete information.,Service connection for the gastrointestinal disorder (claimed as GERD, gastritis and hiatal hernia) remains pending and will be addressed in a future decision.

The deciding factor: The Board found that there is no evidence of obstructive sleep apnea during service or any link to a service-connected condition. The gastrointestinal disorder claim was remanded due to incomplete information regarding the onset and relationship to service.,The gastrointestinal disorder claim will be reconsidered, with an emphasis on addressing whether it had its onset during service or is related to a disease, event, or injury in service.

Claimed conditions
Obstructive sleep apnea, Gastrointestinal disorder (GERD, gastritis, hiatal hernia)
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
October 16, 2020
Citation
20067292

Veterans Law Judge

K. A. BANFIELD

Decisions by this judge: 1,738 · Granted: 17% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)

Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.

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 20067292.

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