The Board granted earlier effective dates and initial ratings for muscle tension headaches, sleep apnea, and unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, but denied a higher rating for sleep apnea and an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress. The Board also granted an increased rating for bilateral hearing loss and denied a higher rating.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's muscle tension headaches, sleep apnea, and unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress are considered to be very frequent completely prostrating and prolonged attacks productive of severe economic inadaptability, warranting the highest schedular ratings. The evidence does not support a higher rating for sleep apnea or an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress.
- Claimed conditions
- muscle tension headaches, sleep apnea, unspecified depressive disorder with anxious distress, bilateral hearing loss, radiation disability manifested by lung/breathing difficulties (claimed as exposure to radiation), hypertension, lumbar spine disability, left lower extremity nerve condition, right wrist disability, diverticulitis with diarrhea
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 50%
- Decision date
- July 8, 2025
- Citation
- A25058412
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.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of October 21, 2021, for the grant of service connection for hypertension.
- Dismissed
The appeal for a compensable rating for left ear hearing loss, service connection for right ear hearing loss, and bilateral vision condition was dismissed. Service connection for hypertension, congestive heart failure, and coronary artery disease was denied.
- 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew the appeals for service connection for bilateral pes planus, obstructive sleep apnea, bilateral hearing loss, tinnitus, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).
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