The Veteran's claimed conditions, including bilateral hearing loss, sleep apnea, neck disorder, hand disorders, elbow disorders, hip disorders, lumbar spine disorder, tailbone disorder, foot disorders, ankle disorders, and knee disorders are not service-connected as they do not meet the regulatory threshold for a disability or were not caused by service.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not show any hearing loss, sleep apnea, neck pain, hand, elbow, hip, lumbar spine, tailbone, foot, ankle, or knee conditions during service. Post-service medical records do not demonstrate continuity of symptomatology for these conditions and the VA examinations found no causal relationship between current diagnoses and service.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral hearing loss, sleep apnea, neck disorder, right-hand disorder, left-hand disorder, right elbow disorder, left elbow disorder, right hip disorder, left hip disorder, lumbar spine disorder, tailbone disorder, right foot disorder, left foot disorder, right ankle disorder, left ankle disorder, right knee disorder, left knee disorder, right shoulder disorder, left shoulder disorder
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 21, 2020
- Citation
- 20080210
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
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 various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- 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).
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and no competent evidence linking the condition to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
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