The Veteran's PTSD, headaches, and insomnia are granted service connection. The remaining conditions (tinea pedis, iron deficiency anemia, obstructive sleep apnea, hypertension, memory loss after surgery during service, peripheral drusen, cataracts, and retina degeneration) have been remanded for further examination and opinion.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's PTSD is presumed due to military sexual trauma. The headaches are found to be related to in-service onset. Insomnia and memory loss are linked to the service-connected PTSD. Other conditions require additional medical evaluation to determine their etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Headaches, Tinea Pedis, Iron Deficiency Anemia, Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Hypertension, Insomnia, Memory Loss After Surgery During Service, Peripheral Drusen, Cataracts, Retina Degeneration (claimed as Retinopathy)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 23, 2020
- Citation
- 20080875
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,934 · Granted: 41% (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 20080875.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied the claim of service connection for hypertension, finding that it did not manifest during service and is not causally related to the Veteran's exposure to herbicides or service.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for hypertension, finding that there was no evidence of a nexus between his current condition and active duty service or herbicide exposure.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to his service-connected left knee and left ankle conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected other specified insomnia disorder.
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