The Board granted service connection for the Veteran's lower back pain, bilateral hip pain, and bilateral knee pain but denied service connection for obstructive sleep apnea.
The deciding factor: The evidence established a direct causal relationship between the Veteran's claimed disabilities and his military service, while there was no such evidence supporting a link to service for OSA.
- Claimed conditions
- lower back pain (back disability), bilateral hip pain (hip disability), bilateral knee pain (knee disability), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 100%
- Decision date
- April 3, 2025
- Citation
- A25030976
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted a 70 percent initial disability rating for PTSD effective December 2, 2021, but the claim for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent was denied. The appeal also included claims for service connection and ratings for various conditions, some of which were granted while others were remanded.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) based on the Veteran's exposure to in-service chemical agents.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) as secondary to fibromyalgia due to a need for additional medical evidence.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a 20 percent disability rating for left and right lower extremity radiculopathy from April 3, 2023 onward, but denied higher ratings prior to that date. Service connection was also granted for alcohol use disorder as secondary to PTSD with traumatic brain injury.
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