The Board remands the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, residuals of a cerebrovascular accident (CVA), and bilateral ischemic optic neuropathy as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected bilateral hearing loss due to inadequate medical opinions.
The deciding factor: The opinions provided by the July 2021 examiners were found to be inadequate because they did not address whether the Veteran's claimed conditions were aggravated by his service-connected bilateral hearing loss, and failed to consider intermediate steps in causation such as obesity.
- Claimed conditions
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea, Residuals of a Cerebrovascular Accident (CVA), Bilateral Ischemic Optic Neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 16, 2024
- Citation
- A24066242
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 Board denied service connection for various disabilities and denied higher ratings for several service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric disorders, lumbar and cervical spine disabilities, bilateral radiculopathy of the upper extremities, and bilateral radiculopathy and neuropathy of the lower extremities.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 50 percent for PTSD, finding that the Veteran's symptoms more closely approximated those associated with a 50 percent rating.
- Partly granted
The appeal for entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea was granted, while other appeals were dismissed as untimely and remanded for further action on essential tremors.
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