The Board granted service connection for sleep apnea and deviated nasal septum and status post septoplasty, finding that the evidence was new and material to reopen the claim for sleep apnea and that there was a reasonable possibility of substantiating the claims based on the Veteran's in-service symptoms.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the lay reports from the Veteran and his former roommate were competent and credible, and that the evidence was approximately evenly balanced as to whether the current conditions had their onset during service. The reasonable doubt created by this approximate balance in the evidence must be resolved in favor of the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, deviated nasal septum and status post septoplasty
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2024
- Citation
- 24000383
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 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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