Citation Nr: 18140533 Decision Date: 10/03/18 Archive Date: 10/03/18 DOCKET NO. 15-10 500A DATE: October 3, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is granted. FINDING OF FACT The evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether the Veteran’s OSA was incurred in or caused by service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for OSA are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b) (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(a) (2018). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Army from March 1975 to May 1980. He served in the Army National Guard from December 1990 to June 1991, during this time he had active duty deployment overseas in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm, and January 2007 to March 2008, during this time he was deployed to Afghanistan. This matter comes before the Board from a July 2014 rating decision. The Veteran appeared before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Board hearing in June 2018. The transcript is in the record. The Board recognizes that the Veteran attempted to raise a claim for service connection for periodic limb movement at the June 2018 Board Hearing. The Veteran is advised that a claim for benefits must be submitted on the application form prescribed by the Secretary. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.1 (p), 3.155, 3.160 (2018). 1. Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea Service connection will be granted if the evidence demonstrates that a current disability resulted from an injury or disease incurred in or aggravated by active service, even if the disability was initially diagnosed after service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. The Veteran asserts that his diagnosed sleep apnea had its initial onset during active service. He acknowledges that he did not seek treatment during service for sleep apnea and he was diagnosed with the disability after separation from service. However, he maintains that during service he had symptoms of the disability. A June 2014 sleep study diagnosed moderate obstructive sleep apnea and periodic limb movement. Though this diagnosis comes years after his separation from the military the Veteran explained that he did not seek treatment until his retirement because did not want to jeopardize his Department of Defense job. In support of his claim, the Veteran has submitted lay statements from his fellow service members and his spouse that they observed the Veteran’s symptoms of snoring, labored breathing while sleeping, kicking in his sleep, and daytime fatigue during and directly after his active service. The Veteran was afforded a VA examination in January 2016. The examiner opined that the Veteran’s OSA was less likely than not related to his service. The examiner explained that snoring can exists with or without the presence of sleep apnea. The examiner added that the Veteran’s symptoms of fatigue and choking are attributable to sleep apnea; however, the examiner does not reconcile the Veteran’s lay statements, or submitted buddy statements, reporting those symptoms during service. A July 2018 private opinion from Dr. L.O. states that she reviewed the available medical records and interviewed the Veteran. She opined that the Veteran’s diagnosed OSA is at least as likely than not related to his service. Dr. L.O. bases her opinion on the reports of OSA symptoms during and after the Veteran’s deployment in from 1990 – 1991 and reports that the symptoms increased in severity after the Veteran deployed again in 2007 – 2008. She rationalized that the onset of the symptoms after his deployments relates the disease to his service. After a review of all the evidence of record, both lay and medical, the Board finds that the evidence supports that the currently diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea onset during active service. The probative evidence of record consists of the lay statements submitted by the Veteran as well as the private examination report that concluded the currently diagnosed obstructive sleep apnea had its onset during active service. The January 2016 VA examination lacks sufficient rationale to contradict the letter from Dr. O.F. and thus is given less probative value. As such, the Board finds that sleep apnea onset during active service and the claim is granted. MICHAEL A. HERMAN Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD E. Rekowski, Associate Counsel