The Board remands the claims for service connection for various musculoskeletal and radiculopathy conditions, as well as obstructive sleep apnea, to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is required due to a failure to obtain complete service treatment records and to address the Veteran's contention that his obstructive sleep apnea is related to his service-connected disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- cervical spine disability, lumbar spine disability, right lower extremity radiculopathy, left lower extremity radiculopathy, right upper extremity radiculopathy, left upper extremity radiculopathy, obstructive sleep apnea
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 8, 2024
- Citation
- A24073331
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.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, effective from the date of the February 2025 rating decision.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea due to a duty to assist error.
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