The appeal for service connection for sleep apnea was dismissed due to untimeliness, while the claims for a skin disability and stomach disability were remanded for further examination.
The deciding factor: The May 2024 Notice of Disagreement did not initiate a valid Board appeal for entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea as it was filed more than one year after the October 2016 denial, while the claims for skin and stomach disabilities require additional evidence due to missing diagnoses in recent VA treatment records.
- Claimed conditions
- sleep apnea, skin disability, claimed as psoriasis, stomach disability, to include irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- May 13, 2025
- Citation
- A25043047
What this means for you
A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot. It says more about procedure than about whether a claim like this can win.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including prostate cancer and related disabilities, urinary incontinence, sleep apnea, hypertension, varicose veins, lumbar spine disability, hip arthritis, shoulder arthritis, ankle arthritis, knee strain, knee replacement, and hand arthritis. The only condition granted was a 10 percent rating for a fracture of the right proximal first metacarpal.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for sleep apnea as there is no evidence of an in-service injury or disease, and no competent evidence linking the condition to service.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for asthma and remanded claims for insomnia and sleep apnea. Other conditions were denied.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for cervicalgia, jaw disability, stomach disability, and drug abuse as the evidence did not support a finding of an in-service incurrence or aggravation of these conditions.
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