Citation Nr: 21028727
Decision Date: 05/11/21	Archive Date: 05/11/21

DOCKET NO. 19-03 653
DATE: May 11, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for a respiratory disorder is remanded.

Entitlement to service connection for a psychiatric disorder is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty in the Army from November 1976 to November 1979. He also has active duty service in the Navy from May 1980 to April 1988 and August 1988 to August 1990.

These matters come to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a May 2016 rating decision issued by the Agency of Original Jurisdiction (AOJ). In April 2020, the Board denied the Veteran's claims for service connection for a respiratory disorder, psychiatric disorder, and sleep apnea. 

Then, in November 2020, the Veteran appealed the Board decision to the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC). Later that month, the CAVC granted a Joint Motion for Partial Remand (JMR) vacating the portion of the Board's April 2020 decision that denied the Veteran's service connection claims for a respiratory disorder, psychiatric disorder, and sleep apnea. The parties before CAVC found the VA failed in its duty to notify and assist by not informing him of how to substantiate his service connection claims. 

Entitlement to service connection for a respiratory disorder, psychiatric disorder, and sleep apnea is remanded.

The JMR directed the Board to ensure the Veteran is informed of how to substantiate his service connection claims for a respiratory disorder, psychiatric disorder, and sleep apnea. To comply with JMR's directive, the Veteran's claims must be remanded so the AOJ can send the Veteran the appropriate notice. 

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Provide the Veteran with appropriate notice of the VA's duty to notify and assist with regard to substantiating his service connection claims for a respiratory disorder, psychiatric disorder, and sleep apnea. 

2. The AOJ should consider the potential need for further development based on the results of the development requested above including, if appropriate, ordering examinations and/or medical opinions concerning whether any of the Veteran's claimed disabilities had its initial onset in service or is otherwise related to any in-service disease, injury, or event.  

 

DAVID L. WIGHT

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	Dean, Michael S.

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.