The Board granted service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, finding it was caused by the veteran's service-connected depressive disorder through obesity.
The deciding factor: A private examiner's opinion that the OSA was more likely than not caused by the service-connected depressive disorder via obesity was given substantial probative weight.
- Claimed conditions
- obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), depressive disorder, obesity
- How they argued it
- Secondary to another service-connected condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 28, 2025
- Citation
- A25007403
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 133 · Granted: 37% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation A25007403.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's diabetes mellitus, type II, is granted on a secondary basis with obesity serving as an intermediate step due to service-connected low back disability, sciatica, and right shoulder disabilities.
- Granted
The Veteran's vascular headaches are granted effective August 22, 2011. A TDIU is granted effective February 11, 2015. SMC based on housebound criteria is denied prior to July 14, 2020.
- Granted
The Veteran's OSA is granted as service connected. The Veteran's infectious disease claim and stomach disability claim are remanded for further examination.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to errors in obtaining relevant medical records and authorization for private treatment providers. The issues include heart disorder, OSA, sinusitis, lumbar spine disorder, and right knee disorder all related to Agent Orange exposure.
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