The Board remands the claims for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea and asthma as secondary to posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to an inadequate VA examination.
The deciding factor: Remand is necessary to obtain a medical opinion addressing whether the Veteran's obesity, caused or aggravated by his service-connected PTSD, served as an intermediate step between his PTSD and diagnosed sleep apnea and asthma.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea, asthma
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 20, 2025
- Citation
- 25008207
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.
- 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.
- Granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent disability rating for unspecified trauma and stressor-related disorder with major depressive disorder, recurrent, and alcohol use disorder in early remission, as well as TDIU due to asthma and SMC at the housebound rate.
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