The Board has decided to remand the claim for service connection of sleep apnea as secondary to bronchial asthma due to a duty-to-assist error in providing an inadequate VA medical opinion.
The deciding factor: The medical opinion provided did not address whether the Veteran's bronchial asthma aggravated her sleep apnea, and did not consider the role of obesity as an intermediate step between service-connected conditions and the secondary condition.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea syndromes, bronchial asthma
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 10, 2024
- Citation
- A24064876
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 134 · Granted: 38% (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 A24064876.
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 Veteran's service-connected bronchial asthma does not preclude him from maintaining substantial gainful employment.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for an increased rating for obstructive sleep apnea and TDIU is dismissed as the issues are already pending in the legacy system, and docketing of the January 2022 NOD was erroneous.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeals regarding diabetes mellitus type II and sleep apnea syndromes, thus the cases are dismissed.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal for service connection for sleep apnea syndromes, and the Board dismissed it.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.