The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, secondary to a service-connected disability, but denied an initial rating greater than 30 percent for adjustment disorder with mixed anxiety and depressed mood.
The deciding factor: The evidence was at least evenly balanced as to whether the Veteran's OSA was secondary to his service-connected knee disability. The Board resolved reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran. However, the Veteran's psychiatric symptoms did not more closely approximate occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity.
- Claimed conditions
- Adjustment Disorder with Mixed Anxiety and Depressed Mood, Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 30%
- Decision date
- March 11, 2025
- Citation
- A25022041
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 785 · Granted: 47% (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 A25022041.
What this means for you
A partial grant means some issues were granted while others were denied or remanded — common in multi-issue claims. Look at which issues went which way, and how each was argued.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- 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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has determined that the claims for service connection for OSA and insomnia must be remanded due to inadequate VA examinations and opinions, as well as a failure to obtain TERA opinions on all relevant exposures.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for an initial rating in excess of 50 percent for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and a separate rating for chronic pulmonary embolism due to inadequate VA examinations.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate opinions in the current file, and thus the Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability will be reconsidered with new evidence.
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