BVA Case 23-2226: Psychiatric

Rice ,through counsel,appeals a March 3,2023, Board of Veterans'Appeals (Board)decision in which the Board denied entitlement to service connection for (1)obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)and (2) a heart disability.

The Board found the appellant competent to attest to factual matters of which he has first-hand knowledge.

at 3791-804,and the Board denied the claims in February 2020.

In February2021,the appellant submitted a brief to the Court,arguing that the VA negative nexus opinions were inadequate because they relied on the absence of objective medical evidence and failed to adequately address the lay evidence of record.

In the March 2023 decision,the Board denied the claims for service connection for OSA and a heart disability.

Sleep Apna The appellant contends that the September 2022VA opinions are inadequate and the Board erred in relying on these opinions,thereby failing to ensure that VA's duty to assist was satisfied.

The appellant also contends that the VA examiner did not address the fact that when [his] symptoms began during service he weighed between 155-162 pounds and did not drink alcohol, which suggests that weight gain and alcohol abuse may not be the cause of his OSA.

In addition,the appellant notes that while the VA examiner observed that snoring,insomnia and hypersomnolence,are not 'diagnostic of OSA'because a sleep study is required to diagnose OSA , the examiner did not address whether all his symptoms � to include daytime sleepiness;loud snoring;morning headaches;episodes in which he stopped breathing during sleep and awoke throughout the night, gasping or choking � when takentogether make it more likely than not that he had an onset of OSA during service that simply went undiagnosed because a sleep study was not performed.