Here is what I put on my VA FORM 21-4138 when I filed my Sleep Apnea claim on 27 JUL 2015:
I am claiming Sleep Apnea as a service connected condition secondary to my service connected PTSD (30 AUG 2010, 50% Rating).
I submit for considerations three studies conducted at Brook Army Medical Center, Walter Reed Medical Center, and a report from the American Academy of Sleep Medicine that all not increased rates of Sleep Apnea in veterans with PTSD.
VA Training letter 10-01 clearly states that SLEEP DISTURBANCES are included in Signs and Symptoms as Qualifying Chronic Disabilities for claims based on service in the Gulf War and Southwest Asia.
My civilian physician, Dr. David H. Plump, examined me on 17 JUL 2015 and concluded that my OSA is at least as likely as not AGGRAVATED by my service connected PTSD and that it is at least as likely as not that my service connected PTSD is AGGRAVATED by my diagnosed OSA.
Time-Line:
Initial Claim: 27 Jul 2015
C&P by VES: 25 Aug 2015
Decision: 15 Jan 2016
Here is what my decision letter stated:
- Service connection for sleep apnea has been established as related to the service-connected disability of posttraumatic stress disorder.
- A higher evaluation of 100 is not warranted for sleep apnea syndromes unless the evidence shows: Carbon dioxide retention; or Chronic respiratory failure; or, Corpulmonale;,, or Tracheostomy required.
- We have assigned a 50 percent evaluation for your sleep apnea based on: *Requires use of breathing assistance device such as a continuous airway pressure (CPAP) machine.
I think that by claiming AGGRAVATION and not CAUSED BY PTSD, MDD, Chronic Pain, etc., is easier to get a non-VA doctor to write a nexus.
Semper Fi -