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Board of Veterans' Appeals · AMA series

Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is remanded.

July 30, 2026Citation Nr. A26069957Docket 211231-208451va.gov source

  • Obstructive sleep apneaRemanded
DecisionAnalysis

Board reasoning

The Board remands to correct a duty to assist error and to address etiologic and pathophysiologic understandings of sleep apnea, including exposure history (TERA/ILER) and potential relation to service-connected conditions such as PTSD. It relies on medical opinions and in-service records to determine whether etiology and pathophysiology are inconclusive, partially understood, or fully understood, and whether sleep apnea is incurred in or aggravated by service.

Issues

  • Obstructive sleep apneaRemanded

Authorities

  • Stewart v. Wilkie, 30 Vet. App. 383Used to define MUCMI and standard for determining whether illness is medically unexplained.
  • Stewart v. Wilkie, 30 Vet. App. 383 (2018)Same as above; reiterates MUCMI framework.

Extracted with gpt-5-nano-2025-08-07. Citations are kept only when they appear in the decision text.