The Board has remanded the claims for obstructive sleep apnea and PTSD due to potential errors in the previous decisions. The Veteran needs to provide results of a January 2020 sleep study, verify his claimed stressor with JSRRC, and obtain an addendum opinion from the VA examiner.
The deciding factor: The Board found that additional development is needed as there may be relevant evidence not considered in the previous decisions.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 20, 2020
- Citation
- 20074514
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea due to a duty to assist error.
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.