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Secondary Service Connection

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Fat

Question

My gym buddy was recently service connected for Sinusitis at 10%.

He was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea back in 2008.

The sleep apnea is not service connected.

He now wants to get the Sleep Apnea service connected secondarily to the Sinusitis. 

Can he get the Sleep Apnea secondarily connected even though it was diagnosed before the Sinusitis.

 

ALL COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED...........

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Not likely, chicken egg deal. SA DX, way precedes resent  Sinus SC, reverse Nexus, don't think so. What does he have, but time. to lose.

When in doubt, let the Rater make the call. The Denial letter would tell him why and what Evidence would be necessary for an SC. He'd be no better or worse off than had he not filed the claim.

Wants and Feelings, don't get SC's Awarded. What in service event or DX got the recent Sinus SC, could it have actually been linked to the 2012 SA DX?

Need to see his Claim and award letter as well as the SA DX, redacted of course.

Semper Fi

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I don't understand your logic Gastone.

The guy was diagnosed with sleep apnea in 2008 by a private physician.

He was recently service connected for sinusitis in 2016.

He was told by a physician the service connected sinusitis could possibly be the reason for sleep apnea.

I'm only asking because the sleep apnea was diagnosed back in 2008 before the sinusitis was service connected .

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Fat,

Your gym buddy can check his STR/SMRs for treatment dates of sinusitis.  That would at least give a starting point for working in the secondary SA claim.  Also, let same said pal know the OSA/SA claims not DXd while on AD are super hard to link to service primary or secondary. 

And yes, it does help to have "Vulcan" blood running through your veins to understand Gastone's logic, sometimes.

Semper Fi.

Andy

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  • Content Curator/HadIt.com Elder

Hey Fat,
I understand where Gastone is coming from, but what about the likelihood your friend had this for a long time and only recently won SC for it?

Your friend should go back and dig through his records to look for any instances of symptoms and/or treatment which are similar to sinusitis. It could be a situation where he may have had this for quite some time and only filed for SC recently. Sort of like the doc saying he reviewed his records and found recurrent symptoms and/or treatment of sinusitis going back prior to the SA diagnosis.

Also, having the doc opine "possibly" or "probably" is not enough for the VA to grant SC. The doc should use "as likely as not" or better for the likelihood argument.

 

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I'm going explain this in a different manner.

When a veteran is service connected for a disability. It means he is financially compensable and the disability had its origins during his active duty stint.

So even though you are service connected in 2016 (example), it also means the origins of the disability occurred during the active duty years of 2003-2007 (example).

So if the service connected disability started in 2003-2007, then a secondary service connected disability also could have its origins in 2003-2007.

 

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