The appeal of entitlement to service connection for COPD and sleep apnea was dismissed as premature, while the issue of a right shoulder condition is remanded for further development.
The deciding factor: The appeal was dismissed due to the lack of an adjudicative determination on the issues of COPD and sleep apnea at the time of the notice of disagreement, and the Board must consider evidence only from before that date. The right shoulder issue requires a VA examination to determine its etiology.
- Claimed conditions
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Sleep apnea, Right shoulder condition, to include arthritis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 25, 2025
- Citation
- A25054916
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A dismissal means the Board did not decide the issue on its merits — usually because it was withdrawn or had become moot.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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for chronic headaches, CFS, dermatosis, bilateral RLS, a lumbar spine disability, and sleep apnea but denied a compensable evaluation for allergic rhinitis.
- Partly granted
The Board granted readjudication of previously denied claims for service connection for PTSD and COPD, while remanding other issues including entitlement to service connection for an eye disorder, hypertension, tinnitus, a compensable rating for bilateral hearing loss, TDIU, and an initial rating for PTSD.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, a low back disability, residuals of a right foot injury, sinusitis, shortness of breath, allergic rhinitis, and sleep apnea as there was no evidence to support a link between these conditions and the Veteran's military service.
- Denied
The appeal for service connection for PTSD was dismissed, and the claims for a compensable rating for the lower back scar, service connection for COPD, and peripheral artery disease were denied.
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