The Veteran's emergency room visit at HFRMC on September 24, 2013 was deemed necessary due to his urgent medical condition. The Board found that a prudent layperson would have expected delay in seeking immediate medical attention to be hazardous and that a VA facility was not feasibly available during the emergency.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's condition required immediate medical attention as indicated by the triage nurse, who instructed him to seek treatment immediately at an urgent care center or Tampa VAMC. The Board found reasonable doubt in favor of the Veteran's claim based on these circumstances.
- Claimed conditions
- Bilateral lower extremity swelling, Shortness of breath, Insomnia, Feeling like stopping breathing when sleeping
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 3, 2018
- Citation
- 18124066
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 18124066.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to an inadequate opinion regarding the relationship between any current acquired psychiatric disorder and service, specifically a claimed in-service personal assault. The Veteran's contentions are that he did not report or seek treatment for this assault because he feared it would complicate his discharge.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a separate disability rating for insomnia is denied as it is subsumed under his service-connected PTSD.,The effective date for the grant of service connection for PTSD is denied as no new and material evidence was submitted within one year of the July 1986 denial, making the June 9, 2017, claim without legal merit.,The effective date for the grant of service connection for OSA is denied as no new and material evidence was submitted within one year of the April 2013 denial, making the June 9, 2017, claim without legal merit.
- Granted
The Veteran's service connection claim for insomnia is granted as the evidence supports a finding that his current insomnia began during and has continued since service, and was at least as likely as not caused by service.
- Granted
The Board has granted a 70 percent disability rating for the Veteran's service-connected MDD, including insomnia and anxiety disorder, effective from November 13, 2024. The decision concludes that the Veteran's symptoms have most nearly approximated occupational and social impairment with deficiencies in most areas.
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