Citation Nr: 20021818 Decision Date: 03/27/20 Archive Date: 03/27/20 DOCKET NO. 19-09 824 DATE: March 27, 2020 ORDER Service connection for sleep apnea is denied. FINDING OF FACT Sleep apnea is not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for sleep apnea have not been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from July 1966 to July 1969. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a rating decision issued in June 2018 by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). While the Veteran previously requested a Board hearing in connection with his appeal, which was scheduled for March 2020, he withdrew such request earlier that month. 38 C.F.R. § 20.704(e). The Board observes that additional evidence, to include updated VA treatment records, has been associated with the record since the issuance of the January 2019 statement of the case; however, as such is irrelevant to the instant matter, the Board finds that no prejudice results to the Veteran in proceeding with a decision at the present time. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1304(c). Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge, when all of the evidence, including that pertinent to service, establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). Direct service connection may not be granted without evidence of a current disability; in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the present disease or injury. Id.; see also Caluza v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 498, 506 (1995) aff’d, 78 F.3d 604 (Fed. Cir. 1996). The Veteran is seeking service connection for sleep apnea; however, he has not offered any basis for why he believes that such disorder is related to his military service. Additionally, his service treatment records are negative for any complaints, treatment, or diagnoses referable to sleep apnea and, in his May 1969 Report of Medical History, completed at the time of his separation from service, he denied that he had or was then having frequent trouble sleeping. Furthermore, while the Veteran’s post-service treatment records reflect a current diagnosis of sleep apnea, such do not show, or suggest, that such disorder is related to his military service. See September 2017 VA treatment records. Additionally, the Board notes that an examination and/or opinion have not been obtained in regard to the Veteran’s claim for service connection for sleep apnea. However, VA is not required to provide a medical examination when there is no credible evidence of an event, injury, or disease in service. See Bardwell v. Shinseki, 24 Vet. App. 36 (2010). Additionally, a mere conclusory generalized lay statement that service event or illness caused the claimant’s current condition is insufficient to require the Secretary to provide an examination. See Waters v. Shinseki, 601 F.3d 1274, 1278 (2010). Thus, a remand in order to obtain an examination and/or opinion is not necessary in the instant case. Thus, the Board finds that the Veteran’s sleep apnea is not shown to be causally or etiologically related to any disease, injury, or incident during service. Therefore, service connection for such disorder not warranted. In reaching such determination, the Board has considered the applicability of the benefit of the doubt doctrine. However, the preponderance of the evidence is against the Veteran’s claim for service connection for sleep apnea. As such, that doctrine is not applicable in the instant appeal, and his claim must be denied. 38 U.S.C. § 5107; 38 C.F.R. § 3.102; Gilbert v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 49, 53 (1990). A. JAEGER Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board K. Clark, Associate Counsel The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.