The Board remands the claim for a VA examination to determine the nature and likely etiology of the Veteran's sleep apnea, including whether it is secondary to his service-connected right wrist disability.
The deciding factor: The May 2024 and August 2024 VA opinions are inadequate as they failed to address obesity as an intermediate step between OSA and a service-connected disability, and did not discuss the Veteran's lay statements regarding symptoms during service.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea (OSA)
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 1, 2025
- Citation
- A25040137
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 an effective date of July 9, 2020 for the grant of service connection for sleep apnea (OSA), but no earlier.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection for various conditions, including lumbosacral strain, tinnitus, right knee disability, chronic fatigue syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease, bilateral hearing loss, sciatica and lumbar radiculopathy, sleep apnea, and benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.
- Dismissed
The Veteran has withdrawn his appeal for service connection for sleep apnea (OSA), and the Board has dismissed this issue.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for sleep apnea (OSA) and denied a rating in excess of 70 percent for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), while dismissing appeals for service connection for limitation of motion of the ankle, hypertension, tinnitus, and insomnia.
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