The Board has granted service connection for mixed sleep apnea, but has remanded the issue of service connection for a recurrent esophageal disability to include GERD.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the relationship between the diagnosed sleep apnea and the service-connected disabilities is in equipoise, warranting service connection. However, further evaluation is needed to determine if the esophageal disability is related to active service or the service-connected conditions.
- Claimed conditions
- Mixed sleep apnea, Recurrent esophageal disability (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 30, 2024
- Citation
- A24069945
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 918 · Granted: 32% (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 A24069945.
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 sinusitis, mixed sleep apnea, and tinnitus as there was no evidence of a current disability or an in-service event, injury, or disease related to these conditions.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for mixed sleep apnea, finding that new and material evidence was received to reopen the claim. The Veteran's current diagnosis of mixed sleep apnea is linked to his in-service symptoms and history.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection for stable angina was denied as there was no formal or informal claim filed before December 16, 2019.,The Veteran's claims for bilateral hearing loss disabilities were not readjudicated because new and relevant evidence had not been received within the required timeframe.,Service connection for mixed sleep apnea and GERD secondary to PTSD was granted.,Service connection for squamous cell carcinoma of the abdomen and its residuals, related to herbicide exposure in Vietnam, was granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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