Citation Nr: 21041265
Decision Date: 07/08/21	Archive Date: 07/08/21

DOCKET NO. 15-04 645
DATE: July 8, 2021

REMANDED

Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea, to include as secondary to service-connected disabilities, is remanded.

REASONS FOR REMAND

The Veteran served on active duty from January 1996 to March 2006.

This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) from a December 2013 decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office.  The Board previously remanded this matter in September 2018 for further evidentiary development.  The issue of entitlement to recognition of J. as the Veteran's spouse for the purposes of additional dependency compensation will be the subject of a separate Board decision.

Entitlement to service connection for obstructive sleep apnea.

In the September 2018 remand, the Board noted that the Veteran's September 2013 VA medical examination was not adequate because it did not provide an opinion as to whether the Veteran's sleep apnea had been aggravated by his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD).  It then directed the agency of original jurisdiction to obtain an addendum opinion from the same examiner or a suitable substitute regarding the etiology of this claimed disability.  The examiner was asked to provide an opinion regarding whether it was at least as likely as not that the Veteran's sleep apnea was caused or aggravated by his PTSD.  

Pursuant to the Board's remand, VA obtained an April 2019 addendum opinion.  Regrettably, this opinion is also inadequate.  While the opinion states that sleep apnea is not due to or the result of the Veteran's PTSD, it again fails to address the prospect of whether PTSD has at least as likely as not increased the severity of sleep apnea.  As a result, the Board finds that there has not been substantial compliance with its September 2018 remand directives and the appeal must again be remanded for corrective action.  Stegall v. West, 11 Vet. App. 268 (1998) (holding that a remand by the Board confers the right to compliance with remand orders); see also Dyment v. West, 13 Vet. App. 141 (1999) (holding that remand not required under Stegall where there was substantial compliance with remand directives).

The matters are REMANDED for the following action:

1. Obtain the Veteran's VA treatment records for the period since March 2020.

2. Obtain an addendum opinion from an appropriate clinician regarding whether the Veteran's PTSD, or any other service-connected disability, has aggravated (worsened in severity beyond its natural progression) his obstructive sleep apnea.

 

 

M. Tenner

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	B. Whitelaw, 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.