Citation Nr: 21022246 Decision Date: 04/15/21 Archive Date: 04/15/21 DOCKET NO. 16-26 409 DATE: April 15, 2021 ORDER Service connection for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is granted. FINDING OF FACT Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, his OSA began during active service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for OSA are met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1131, 5107; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served honorably on active duty in the United States Air Force from June 1971 to March 1975 and from August 1975 to November 1994. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a September 2013 rating decision. The Board remanded the claim in November 2020 to obtain medical opinions. The Board finds that there has been substantial compliance with the remand directives. Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998). Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1131; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303. To establish service connection for a 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. Davidson v. Shinseki, 581 F.3d 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2009). Certain chronic diseases, including OSA(as an organic disease of the nervous system) will be presumed related to service if they were shown as chronic in service; or, if they manifested to a compensable degree within a presumptive period following separation from service; or, if they were noted in service with continuity of symptomatology since service that is attributable to the chronic disease. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1101, 1112, 1113, 1137; Walker v. Shinseki, 708 F.3d 1331, 1338 (Fed. Cir. 2013); Fountain v. McDonald, 27 Vet. App. 258 (2015); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.307, 3.309. The Veteran contends that his OSA is related to active military service. Specifically, he asserts that his symptoms of OSA began during service with continuous symptoms after service. The Veteran has a current diagnosis of obstructive sleep apnea. In a September 2009 sleep study, the Veteran was diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea. He presented to the sleep study with symptoms of snoring and nocturnal awakenings. The Veteran also reported gasping for breath when awakened. This diagnosis was confirmed in a March 2020 VA examination. The Veteran submitted an October 2012 statement from his wife. She states that the Veteran has been snoring since he has been in the military. She further describes how the Veteran’s snoring is loud then he stops breathing, followed by gagging and coughing which wakes him up. She notes that this goes on throughout the night confirming the reported symptoms noted in the Veteran’s sleep study and March 2020 VA examination. The Board finds the Veteran’s wife’s statement to be credible and entitled to great probative weight as it is internally consistent and supported by the other evidence of record. Contemporaneous medical evidence is not required to find that a chronic disease was “noted” in service or within a presumptive period for purposes of continuity of symptomatology. “[A]s long as the condition is noted at the time the Veteran was in service such noting need not be reflected in any written documentation (other than as required to be in a format sufficient for inclusion as part of the record and proceedings before the Secretary and the Board) either contemporaneous to service or otherwise.” Savage v. Gober, 10 Vet. App. 488, 496 (1997). Resolving reasonable doubt in the Veteran’s favor, the Board finds that his OSA began in service and that continuity of symptomatology has been established. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.102. Accordingly, service connection for OSA is granted. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. JOHN Z. JONES Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Jorge Barroso, 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.