Secondary claims

Question:

I am service connected for severe pest planus (30%) and OSA (50%). I have conducted research as I now suffer and have for a long time, depression and anxiety. I have found that OSA leads to both depression and anxiety. I learned that Hypertension is also caused by OSA. This is scary, but is it something the VA usually finds as secondary to OSA? Of course I have started my claim and have spoken to specialists, but I wanted to know if you had any experience with this?

 

Jim's Reply:

"is it something the VA usually finds as secondary to OSA?"

 

No.

 

While there are plenty of reasons to believe that OSA may influence or cause other conditions (a sort of cascade effect) VA won't simply accept your word for that. You need an Independent Medical Opinion (IMO) written by an expert to support the secondary cause you claim. You can read more about the IMO here

 

Prior to filing a claim for secondary conditions I usually will suggest that the veteran research how others have won...and lost...such appeals for higher ratings. The Board of Veterans Appeals maintains a very useful search engine that helps a lot. If you'll enter your search terms into the required places and choose a year or two, you'll see results of others who have gone before you.

 

BVA cases are not precedential so you can't cite the results of what you find, you must duplicate the steps you find if you find a case similar to yours that prevails. Good luck!