Citation Nr: 21015831 Decision Date: 03/18/21 Archive Date: 03/18/21 DOCKET NO. 17-49 720 DATE: March 18, 2021 REMANDED Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served on active duty from August 1980 to August 2000, including service in Southwest Asia. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from an October 2016 rating decision issued by a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). In January 2019, the Veteran and his witness testified before the undersigned Veterans Law Judge at a Central Office hearing. A transcript is of record. This matter was remanded for further development in April 2019. An October 2019 Board decision denied, in pertinent part, the Veteran’s claim of entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea. The Veteran appealed the Board’s denial of this issue to the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (Court). An October 2020 Order of the Court granted the parties’ Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMPR), vacated the Board’s decision, but only as it pertained to entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, and returned the claim to the Board. This case has been advanced on the docket pursuant to 38 C.F.R. § 20.800(c). 1. Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is remanded. In the October 2020 JMPR, the Court found that the Board failed to ensure compliance with its April 2019 remand directives and, thereby, the duty to assist. The April 2019 remand instructed that a VA examiner offer an opinion on whether the Veteran’s sleep apnea is proximately due to or aggravated by his service-connected PTSD and to provide a “fully explained rationale.” In the JMPR, the parties stipulated that the June 2019 medical opinion is inadequate and does not substantially comply with the Board’s remand directives. Specifically, the parties agreed the opinion was conclusory and failed to provide an adequate rationale in concluding that it was less likely than not that the Veteran’s obstructive sleep apnea was due to or aggravated by his service-connected PTSD. As a result, remand is required to obtain a new examination and opinion. See Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268, 271 (1998); Barr v. Nicholson, 21 Vet. App. 303, 311 (2007). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: If feasible, schedule the Veteran for a VA examination for the purposes of obtaining a nexus opinion regarding his obstructive sleep apnea. The claim file should be reviewed. The examiner is asked to provide a response to the following: a) Is the Veteran’s obstructive sleep apnea at least as likely as not proximately due to his service-connected PTSD? b) Is the Veteran’s obstructive sleep apnea at least as likely as not aggravated, i.e., worsened beyond its natural progression, by his service-connected PTSD? A fully explained rationale must be provided. In doing so, the examiner should consider the medical treatise evidence provided by the Veteran in January 2019. If the opinions cannot be rendered without resorting to speculation, the examiner must explain why this is so. D. JOHNSON Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board R. Caban, 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.