The Board remands the claims for service connection for sleep apnea and peripheral neuropathy of the bilateral upper and lower extremities to obtain additional evidence and provide new opinions.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner's opinion was inadequate as it did not consider all relevant medical records, including a February 2013 sleep study diagnosing obstructive sleep apnea and a November 2023 polysomnogram with mild sleep apnea observed in the supine position.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, right lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, left lower extremity peripheral neuropathy, right upper extremity peripheral neuropathy, left upper extremity peripheral neuropathy
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 29, 2025
- Citation
- 25001349
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 258 · Granted: 30% (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 25001349.
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 the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea, finding that there was no evidence of a chronic disease manifesting within one year after service and concluding that the current disability is not related to his in-service deviated septum.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case for additional development regarding the Veteran's claim of service connection for sleep apnea. The Veteran will be provided with a VA examination to determine if his current sleep disorder is related to his military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the issue of service connection for sleep apnea due to insufficient medical opinions and need for further development.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew his appeal regarding the claims for sleep apnea and an increased disability rating for diabetes mellitus, type II.
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