The Veteran's claim for earlier effective date for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea prior to January 28, 2021 is denied. The Board found that the Veteran did not continuously pursue her claims in the January 2019 decision and thus an earlier effective date was not preserved.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's claim for earlier effective date was not preserved due to failure to continuously pursue her claims within one year of the January 2019 rating decision, despite her contentions regarding difficulties obtaining records during the global pandemic.
- Claimed conditions
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- July 17, 2024
- Citation
- A24038688
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 A24038688.
What this means for you
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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 claims for service connection due to a duty to assist error, specifically regarding whether the Veteran's current conditions are aggravated by his service-connected DDD of the lumbosacral spine. The AOJ is required to obtain new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has denied the Veteran's claims for initial compensable ratings for obstructive sleep apnea and headaches, finding that the evidence does not support a finding of persistent daytime hypersomnolence or other manifestations consistent with a compensable disability rating under the criteria established by Diagnostic Codes. The matter is remanded to obtain additional information from the Veteran regarding his headaches and their impact on his daily life.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to his service-connected residuals of left foot 5th metatarsal fracture.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea has been granted, with the effective date set at June 25, 2019.
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