The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA) as it is at least as likely as not caused or chronically worsened by his service-connected musculoskeletal disabilities.
The deciding factor: The private medical professional opined that the Veteran's OSA is at least as likely as not secondary to several of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, including pain and medication use which can cause fluid retention leading to OSA.
- Claimed conditions
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea Syndrome (OSA), Degenerative Joint Disease, Lumbosacral Spine, Status Post Avulsion Fracture, L4, Chronic Arthralgia, Left Hip, Right Knee S/P Post Partial Meniscectomy, Chondromalacia, Right Knee, Chondromalacia, Left Knee
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 29, 2024
- Citation
- A24069569
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 117 · 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 A24069569.
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 determined that there was a duty to assist error prior to the issuance of the decision on appeal and has ordered remand for further development. Specifically, the AOJ is required to verify all periods of active duty, ACDUTRA, and INACDUTRA during the Veteran's National Guard service and obtain any outstanding line of duty determinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to new and relevant evidence submitted by the Veteran, which includes a December 2018 note from the VA sleep lab. The claim for service connection for OSA is now pending.
- Denied
The Veteran's low back disability is rated at 20% from December 19, 2019 to August 19, 2022 and at 40% since then. The right and left lower extremity radiculopathy are also rated at 40%. These ratings are denied.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings have been denied. The Board has found that the Veteran does not meet the criteria for a rating in excess of 10 percent for bilateral hearing loss, and remanded the issues regarding degenerative joint disease of the lumbosacral spine and left knee lateral meniscectomy.
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