The Board has granted service connection for sleep apnea and remanded the issue of service connection for a respiratory condition. The Veteran's claim for respiratory conditions, including asthma and COPD, is being remanded due to inadequate VA opinions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner’s opinion was found to be inadequate as it improperly discounted lay evidence regarding the quality and continuity of symptoms in determining that sleep apnea was not incurred in service. The Board also noted that the VA examiner continued to dismiss lay testimony of a long history of symptoms, such as snoring and fitful sleep with gasping for air multiple times, simply because it is not medical evidence.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, respiratory condition (including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and unspecified respiratory disorder)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 12, 2021
- Citation
- 21001945
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 21001945.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disease manifesting within one year after service and concluding that the current disability is not related to his in-service deviated septum.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's claim of service connection for sleep apnea. The Veteran will be provided with a VA examination to determine if his current sleep disorder is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the issue of service connection for sleep apnea due to insufficient medical opinions and need for further development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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