Citation Nr: 21061609
Decision Date: 10/04/21	Archive Date: 10/04/21

DOCKET NO. 17-65 149
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

ORDER

Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

The Veteran's OSA is aggravated by her service-connected low back disability.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria to establish service connection for OSA have been met.  38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1131, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a).

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran had active service from January 2000 to March 2004.  

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from an August 2013 rating decision by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ).  

A Board hearing was held in December 2020.  A transcript is of record.  

The Veteran seeks service connection for OSA, to include on a direct or secondary basis.  In October 2012, a friend indicated that she had known the Veteran since 2004, and that since she had known her, the Veteran had complained of pain that caused sleep problems.  The Veteran is in receipt of VA disability benefits for lumbosacral strain with spinal stenosis.  See June 22, 2021 Rating Decision Codesheet.  

To establish a right to compensation for a present disability, a Veteran must show: "(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"-the so-called "nexus" requirement.  Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004).

Service connection may also be granted for disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury.  38 C.F.R. § 3.310 (a).  This includes any increase in disability (aggravation) that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury.  Establishing service connection on a secondary basis requires evidence sufficient to show (1) that a current disability exists and (2) that the current disability was either caused or aggravated by a service-connected disease or injury.  Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995) (en banc).

Having reviewed the record with respect to this issue, the Board concludes that service connection for the Veteran's OSA is warranted.  In this regard, a VA examiner opined in June 2021 that the Veteran's OSA was aggravated by her service-connected back disability.  This opinion was provided by a medical professional who reviewed the history, interviewed and examined the Veteran, and provided an opinion supported by an adequate rationale.

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As there is an informed medical opinion indicating that the Veteran's claimed OSA is related to his service-connected low back disability, the Board concludes that service connection is in order.

 

 

DONNIE R. HACHEY

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	J. Barone, 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.