ptsd Sleep Apnea Filing secondary to a SC Disability!

[Buck52]

This maybe helpful to some of you  wanting to File a secondary claim from a SC DISABILITY THAT YOU MAY HAVE  FOR A SLEEP APNEA CLAIM.

Even though this case is an old one   some of you may want to read up on this case that are thinking about filing a Claim of Sleep Apnea secondary to a SC disability that you may have.

you can get pull up these CFR'S That you need to read up on and do what you need to do for your claim..and submit your evidence accordingly.

 

Please read this   it sure could help you with your claim.

 

Citation Nr: 0102100 Decision Date: 01/25/01 Archive Date: 01/31/01 DOCKET NO. 99-22 315 ) DATE On appeal from the Department of Veterans Affairs Regional Office in St. Louis, Missouri THE ISSUE Entitlement to service connection for sleep apnea as secondary to service-connected post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). REPRESENTATION Appellant represented by: Disabled American Veterans ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD Richard A. Cohn, Associate Counsel INTRODUCTION The veteran served on active duty from April 1970 to December 1971. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) on appeal from an August 1999 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office in St. Louis, Missouri (RO) which denied service connection for sleep apnea as secondary to service-connected PTSD. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. The record includes all evidence necessary for the equitable disposition of this appeal. 2. There is competent medical evidence linking current sleep apnea to the veteran's service-connected PTSD. CONCLUSION OF LAW The veteran's sleep apnea was aggravated by his service- connected PTSD. Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-475, 114 Stat. 2096 (2000); 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107, 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a) (2000). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDINGS AND CONCLUSION The veteran attributes sleep apnea to his service-connected PTSD. The veteran does not contend that he incurred or aggravated sleep apnea during service and there is no evidence of sleep apnea or other sleep disorder in the veteran's service medical records SMRs. Procedurally, this appeal is developed fully and ready for Board adjudication. The RO has verified the veteran's period of service; there is no issue as to the substantial completeness of the veteran's application for VA benefits; the veteran has undergone VA examination pursuant to the application; the RO has requested and associated with the claims file all available service and postservice medical records pertinent to this appeal; VA is unaware of other unrequested records pertinent to this appeal, and; the evidence is sufficient to permit the Board to proceed with appellate review. See Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000, Pub. L. No. 106-475, 114 Stat. 2096, (2000). A veteran may be entitled to service connection for a disability under either a direct or secondary analysis. Direct service connection is warranted for disability resulting from disease or injury incurred or aggravated in service. 38 U.S.C.A. §§ 1110, 1131 (West 1991); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303 (2000). Secondary service connection is warranted both for a disability caused by a service-connected disorder and for a disability aggravated by a service-connected disorder. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a) (2000). In the latter case, compensation is limited to the extent to which the service- connected disorder increased the severity of the secondary disorder. Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439, 448 (1995); Jones (Wayne) v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 134, 136-37 (1994). A service- connected secondary disorder becomes part of the original disorder. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310(a). The veteran is a decorated former Army combat soldier whose PTSD has been service-connected since July 1995. SMRs include no evidence of a sleep disorder in service and the veteran claims none. VA medical records confirm that the veteran underwent sleep studies in February and October 1998 from which he was diagnosed with sleep apnea. A VA psychiatric progress note from February 1999 briefly reviewed the studies' findings and applicable research and concluded that PTSD and its treatment "in all probability has aggravated the obstructive sleep apnea." The note further states that "it is certainly as likely as not that this veteran's sleep apnea is directly related to his PTSD." The VA physician who examined the veteran in July 1999 identified two likely causes of his sleep apnea: enlarged tonsillar tissue and obesity. The physician found no etiological connection between PTSD and enlarged tonsillar tissue. However, he acknowledged that "an argument could be made" linking the veteran's obesity with PTSD although the veteran's medical records did not include another medical opinion to that effect. In the Board's judgment the record presents adequate evidence upon which to base a finding that the veteran's PTSD aggravated his sleep apnea. The opinion expressed in the February 1999 progress note is neither ambiguous nor equivocal on that point. The July 1999 examination report is more tentative -- finding only a medical possibility of attenuated causality under a different rationale. Nevertheless, the July 1999 opinion does not refute the February 1999 opinion, and it is well established that VA itself may not refute expert medical conclusions in the record with its own unsubstantiated medical conclusions. Colvin v. Derwinski, 1 Vet. App. 171, 175. (1991). Therefore, absent medical evidence actually denying a causal linkage between PTSD and sleep apnea in this case, the Board reads the two opinions together as providing, at minimum, evidentiary equipoise which must be resolved in the veteran's favor. See 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(b). Accordingly, the Board is constrained to find that service connection for sleep apnea is warranted here under a secondary analysis. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. ORDER Service connection for sleep apnea is granted secondary to service-connected PTSD.   WARREN W. RICE, JR.

[Andyman73]

SilverDollar,

I just finished a neuro eval to determing the breadth and width of my memory loss(what was i talking about???) and when I told them that I have SA, they were like "Hmmmm, very interesting" Things that make you go Hmmm...

So, I am hoping and praying that their report will give strong language supporting the link between my SA and crappy short term memory.  Also I found an SMR entry where I had Loss of Conciousness when I fell down the stairs.  Possible mild concussion that went un-DXd.  They were like "double Hmmmm" when I showed them that.  Said these two things are very impotant and will help us very much.

Many of us are struggling with the SA issue, which is very rapidly becoming the "AO" debacle of the 21st century, for Veterans.

Semper Fi

[silverdollar22]

Great news Andyman,

                                     Yes, the links are starting to be joined together.  I hope this new information works out for you!!!  This memory loss can and should be related to SA!! Without proper REM sleep the brain cannot function properly!!  Our two roads are very similar and seems to be traveled on simultaneously!!  I'll keep you posted on the direction i'm traveling if you do the same, then all will benefit from the map we leave to follow!!!   

[Andyman73]

silverdollar,

Yes, it does seem we are both on the same "road to nowhere land".  I know that the way they reacted when I said about the SA and the loss of conciousness injury back in the day, their eyes lit up and their brains kicked into overdrive. 

Still, it bugs me that my VA MH therapist wants to keep talking about how I feel.  I feel like talking about how dealing with the VA about my issues for my claims is not helping my MDD one bit. And ask him how he feels about that.

Semper Fi

[silverdollar22]

Tell him like it is!!!  It's your time and your dime!!!  He's working for you and you should tell him tha,t in a nice sort of way, without too much yelling and dancing on his desk.LOL  I can't wait for my next appt with my shrink because, i have both barrels loaded with reasoning and evidence to last all of my 30 mins and then some!!!  And were GOING TO TALK ABOUT JUST THAT!!!!  Get some ducks together and wait for your next appt. like me.  Wish you the best!!!

[Jerry Harris]

My last sleep study was 2009. I still use same auto cpap and purchase my own masks. Do you think they will require a new study? I was first diagnosed in 1994 had a UPPP also. This will be first time applying for comp.

[silverdollar22]

Yes more than likely knowing the va. My VA does not have a in house sleep study program, so, i was sent a VA CHOICE CARD and dealt with an outside company for a 3 day in home sleep study. We won't go into that nightmare!!!  Did you get your equipment through the VA?  If so you can get new equipment from them for free while your doing your new sleep study. Wish you the best!!