Sleep apnea is a potentially serious sleep disorder where breathing stops and starts, often requiring treatment with devices like CPAP (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) machines. For veterans, obtaining service connection for sleep apnea can be particularly challenging, especially when complicated by underlying conditions such as depression. break down a successful claim by linking sleep apnea to service-connected depression.

Service Connection for Sleep Apnea: Understanding the Criteria

To establish a service connection for sleep apnea, a veteran must show a link between their military service and the onset or aggravation of the condition. This can be achieved through direct, secondary, or presumptive service connections. In this case, the focus was on secondary service connection through an intermediary step—obesity caused by service-connected depression.