The Board has found that there are errors in the decision-making process regarding whether the Veteran's claimed conditions pre-existed service and were aggravated by service. The claims for Meniere's disease and sleep apnea are being remanded to obtain additional medical opinions addressing these issues.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner was not provided with sufficient information to determine if the Veteran's conditions pre-existed his period of active-duty service or were aggravated by it, which is necessary for a proper determination of service connection.
- Claimed conditions
- Meniere's disease, sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 12, 2021
- Citation
- A21016606
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 A21016606.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for a direct service connection opinion and an adequate secondary service connection aggravation opinion.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including sinusitis, elbows condition, cervical condition, erectile dysfunction, kidney condition, sleep apnea, wrists condition, asthma, shoulders condition, ankles condition, eye condition (bilateral dry macular degeneration), peripheral vascular disease (heart condition), and rhinitis.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for Meniere's disease, to include benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), secondary to tinnitus and dismissed the claims for a left knee disability, right knee disability, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
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