The Board has granted the Veteran's request to reopen his claim for service connection for sleep apnea, but has remanded the claims of service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder and hypertension. The TDIU issue is also remanded.
The deciding factor: New evidence submitted by the Veteran relates to a possible relationship between his sleep apnea and an acquired psychiatric disability, which was previously denied in September 2005. However, further development is needed to determine if the Veteran's current diagnoses of PTSD and depression are related to service or any other relevant factors.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired Psychiatric Disorder (to include PTSD and Depression), Sleep Apnea
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 11, 2020
- Citation
- 20078666
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 20078666.
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 service connection for sleep apnea, finding that the evidence did not support a link between the condition and service.
- Denied
The claims for PTSD, an acquired psychiatric disorder, memory loss/memory problems, chronic fatigue, sleep difficulties/sleep disturbances, and sleep apnea have been denied. The claim for service connection for residuals of testicular denervation and varicosectomy has been granted.
- Partly granted
The Veteran's asthma is currently rated at 30 percent, and the Board finds that a higher rating is not warranted.,The Veteran's sleep apnea claim has been remanded due to duty-to-assist errors.
- Denied
The Veteran's appeal for increased ratings and service connection claims have been denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a higher rating for PTSD, denied service connection for CFS, mast cell activation syndrome, and sleep apnea as secondary to PTSD, and remanded TDIU.
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