Citation Nr: 18151420
Decision Date: 11/19/18	Archive Date: 11/16/18

DOCKET NO. 16-25 682
DATE:	November 19, 2018
ORDER
Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
Resolving all reasonable doubt in his favor, the Veteran’s obstructive sleep apnea is related to his active service.
CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for obstructive sleep apnea are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5103, 5103A, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303.
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The Veteran served on active duty in the U.S. Navy from July 1986 to July 2006.
In November 2018, the Veteran and his wife testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge. 
The Board concludes that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea that began during active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d).  
The Veteran underwent an initial sleep study in December 2006, approximately six months after his separation from service, upon which he was diagnosed with hypersomnolence with severe obstructive sleep apnea. The Veteran credibly testified at the November 2018 Board hearing that he requested a sleep study during service because his wife told him that he would stop breathing while he was sleeping. However, a corpsman in service told him that was normal and not to worry about it. The August 2015 statement from the Veteran’s wife credibly corroborates the Veteran’s testimony in this regard. The Veteran’s wife also testified to observing the Veteran and noted that his breathing would stop and he would gasp for air when sleeping. She indicated she began to notice this around 2003. She also testified the Veteran was very tired and fatigued. 
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The Veteran underwent a VA examination in July 2015, at which time it was noted the Veteran reported his sleep apnea began in 2015. However, the objective medical evidence of record and the credible testimony of the Veteran and his wife reflect his symptoms began much earlier than 2015. The VA examiner did not provide an opinion with respect to etiology. 
VA treatment notes from March 2015 reflect the Veteran sought treatment for sleep apnea at that time. Considering the Veteran’s competent and credible testimony, the diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea so close in time to his separation from service, and his ongoing sleep apnea, the Board resolves all reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor and finds that service connection is warranted.
 
A. ISHIZAWAR
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	R.Vemulapalli, Associate Counsel