The Board has granted service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, sleep apnea, and peripheral neuropathy due to presumed herbicide agent exposure. Service connection was denied for onychomycosis, obesity, and GERD.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's peripheral neuropathy is considered presumptively related to his Vietnam-era herbicide agent exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- Acquired psychiatric disability (including unspecified depressive disorder, depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD)), Sleep apnea, Right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, Left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, Right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, Onychomycosis (fungal infection of the big toes), Obesity, Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- Burn pits / airborne hazards
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2022
- Citation
- 22000026
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,017 · Granted: 36% (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 22000026.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for sleep apnea and acquired psychiatric disorder (including PTSD) due to insufficient evidence of record. The Veteran is required to undergo VA examinations to determine if his conditions are related to service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for Dupuytren's contracture of the left hand, right hand, and GERD is remanded due to inadequate VA examination opinions and failure to consider toxic exposure risk activities during service.
- Denied
The Veteran's GERD is currently rated at 10 percent disabling, but the Board found that his symptoms do not meet or approximate the criteria for a higher rating.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), finding that both conditions are secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lower back condition and sinusitis, respectively.
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