The Veteran's sleep apnea is granted as secondary to his service-connected allergic rhinitis. Service connection for PTSD, adjustment disorder with anxious mood and/or depressed mood, and any other mental disorders are denied due to lack of a formal DSM-5 diagnosis during the pendency of the claim.
The deciding factor: The Veteran did not meet the criteria for a formal DSM-5 diagnosis of PTSD or any other mental disorder that conforms with the DSM-5 criteria during the pendency of his November 2021 claim.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), adjustment disorder with anxious mood and/or depressed mood, any other mental disorder, cervical spine (neck) disability, lumbar spine (back) disability, left shoulder disability, right shoulder disability, left elbow disability, right elbow disability, left wrist disability, right wrist disability, left hip disability, right hip disability, left knee disability, right knee disability, left ankle disability, right ankle disability, left foot disability, right foot disability
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- October 29, 2024
- Citation
- A24069661
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · Granted: 23% (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 A24069661.
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 Veteran's right shoulder disability and migraines/chronic headaches are remanded for additional development due to insufficient opinions on the etiology of her conditions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess his bilateral knee and hip disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has expanded the scope of the claim to include any mental health disorder raised by the record and has remanded for additional development regarding service connection for left leg, ankle, and psychiatric disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's acquired psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder and PTSD. The Veteran will be asked to provide additional medical records and undergo a VA examination.
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