The Board has determined that the VA examination and opinion regarding service connection for OSA as secondary to PTSD and MDD are inadequate. The matter is being remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was insufficient, failing to consider relevant evidence including the Veteran's in-service reports of trouble sleeping and favorable medical articles submitted by the Veteran.
- Claimed conditions
- Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 5, 2024
- Citation
- A24071964
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 878 · Granted: 46% (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 A24071964.
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 has denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions, including GAD, MDD, bruxism, migraines/headaches, tinnitus, hip pain, iliotibial band syndrome, and leg stress fractures. The evidence does not support current diagnoses of these conditions during the appeal period.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for an effective date prior to December 27, 2019 for the grant of service connection for PTSD was denied as there is no earlier claim document in the claims file and the Veteran did not timely perfect an appeal.
- Granted
The Veteran's Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is found to have begun during their active duty service and continues to this day, meeting the criteria for service connection.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of entitlement to service connection for vertigo and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) due to a pre-decisional duty to assist error. The Veteran's hearing loss is not rated higher than 10 percent.
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