Citation Nr: 21076507 Decision Date: 12/27/21 Archive Date: 12/27/21 DOCKET NO. 16-55 905 DATE: December 27, 2021 ORDER Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is granted. FINDING OF FACT OSA was caused by the Veteran's service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for OSA have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.3.10. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served in the United States Air Force from December 1968 to November 1972. He served in the Republic of Vietnam. Entitlement to service connection for OSA. Service connection may be granted for current disability arising from disease or injury incurred or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110. 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). Service connection generally requires (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical or, in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. Shedden v. Principi, 381 F.3d 1163, 1167 (Fed. Cir. 2004). Service connection shall be granted on a secondary basis under the provisions of 38 C.F.R. § 3.310 where it is demonstrated that a service-connected disorder has caused or aggravated a nonservice connected disability. See Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). Service treatment records (STRs) are silent for complaints of, treatment for, or a diagnosis of sleep apnea, or symptoms that could be attributed to a later diagnosis of sleep apnea. Post-service records shows that the Veteran was diagnosed with OSA in 2011. An April 2018 private medical opinion states that the Veteran's OSA was caused and aggravated by his service-connected PTSD. The physician stated psychiatric disorders are commonly associated with OSA because an arousal-based mechanism initiated by the psychiatric disorders promotes the development of OSA in trauma survivors. The physician also stated that the Veteran's PTSD symptom of anxiety prevents him from consistently using his CPAP machine which worsens his OSA, and that the Veteran's PTSD medication is known to negatively impact sleep. There are several VA medical opinions of record. They are inadequate and of no probative value. Affording the Veteran the benefit of the doubt, the Board finds that OSA was caused by the Veteran's service-connected PTSD and, therefore, service connection is warranted. The appeal is granted. Jacqueline E. Miller Acting Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans' Appeals Attorney for the Board I. Umez-Eronini, 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.