Citation Nr: 18158531
Decision Date: 12/18/18	Archive Date: 12/17/18

DOCKET NO. 17-09 018
DATE:	December 18, 2018
REMANDED
Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar spine disability, is remanded.
REASONS FOR REMAND
The Veteran served on active duty in the United States Navy from June 1982 to June 1986. 
This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a July 2015 rating decision by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO).  
1. Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, to include as secondary to service-connected lumbar spine disability, is remanded.
The Veteran is seeking service connection for OSA.  He attributes this condition to his military service.  Alternatively, he contends that this condition was caused or aggravated by his service-connected lumbar spine disability.
During his June 2015 VA examination, the Veteran identified relevant outstanding private treatment records.  Specifically, he reported having been diagnosed with OSA in Los Angeles, California, in 1995; and having been given a CPAP machine for this condition around 2005 by a Grove City doctor.  A remand is required to allow VA to obtain authorization and request these records.
In its July 2018 brief, the Veteran’s representative persuasively argues that the July 2015 VA examiner addressed solely whether the Veteran’s current OSA was caused by his service-connected back disability, and not whether this condition aggravated the Veteran’s OSA.  38 C.F.R. § 3.310; Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995).  Accordingly, an addendum opinion must be obtained.
The matter is REMANDED for the following action:
1. Ask the Veteran to complete a VA Form 21-4142 for all post service treatment he has received for his OSA, to specifically include treatment received in Los Angeles, California, in 1995 and treatment by a Grove City doctor around 2005.  Thereafter, request all records adequately identified by the Veteran.







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2.  Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran’s OSA was at least as likely as not proximately due to, the result of, or aggravated by his service connected low back disability.  
 
Evan M. Deichert
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	W. Yates, Counsel