Citation Nr: 18144443
Decision Date: 10/24/18	Archive Date: 10/24/18

DOCKET NO. 16-61 524
DATE:	October 24, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran had active service from May 1982 to October 1982 and from August 1983 to February 1998.
This appeal comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a September 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in Muskogee, Oklahoma.
Service connection requires competent evidence showing: (1) the existence of a present disability; (2) in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) a causal relationship between the present disability and the disease or injury incurred or aggravated during service.  Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004); see also Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498 (1995).
The Veteran asserts he has sleep apnea as a result of his active service.  However, while his psychiatrist provided a November 2015 statement connecting his sleep apnea with his posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD); the record does not reflect treatment for or an actual diagnosis of sleep apnea.  Accordingly, the Board must remand this claim for a VA examination and opinion to confirm a diagnosis.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Obtain any outstanding VA treatment records and private medical records identified by the Veteran as pertinent to his claims.  If the RO cannot locate such records, it must specifically document the attempts that were made to locate them and explain in writing why further attempts to locate or obtain any records would be futile.  The RO must then:
(a.) Notify the claimant of the specific records that it is unable to obtain;
(b.) Explain the efforts VA has made to obtain that evidence; and
(c.) Describe any further action it will take with respect to the claim.  The Veteran must then be given an opportunity to respond.
2. Obtain an examination and opinion for the Veteran’s claim of service connection for sleep apnea.  The record and a copy of this Remand must be made available to and reviewed by the examiner in conjunction with the opinion.
(a.) The examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) any current sleep apnea had its clinical onset during active service or is related to any in-service disease, event, or injury.
(b.) The examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) any current sleep apnea was caused by the Veteran’s PTSD.
(c.) The examiner should provide an opinion as to whether it is at least as likely as not (50 percent or greater probability) that any current sleep apnea was aggravated (i.e., worsened) by the Veteran’s PTSD.
In preparing the opinion, the examiner should comment on the research presented in the November 2015 opinion provided by the Veteran’s psychiatrist.
The examiner must provide a comprehensive report that includes a complete rationale for all opinions and conclusions reached.
 
J. CONNOLLY
Acting Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	Denton, Buck