The Board has determined that new evidence was submitted after the January 2013 denial and warrants readjudication of the claim for service connection for insomnia. The Veteran's claim for bilateral pes planus is also remanded due to a lack of an adequate VA examination.
The deciding factor: New evidence, including statements from the Veteran regarding his sleep disturbances during Gulf War service, was submitted after the January 2013 denial and may be relevant to the issue of service connection for insomnia. The Board found that the prior VA examination did not provide a clear opinion on whether the Veteran's insomnia is related to service or a service-connected disability.
- Claimed conditions
- Insomnia, Bilateral pes planus
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 15, 2019
- Citation
- A19001954
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,454 · Granted: 23% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
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 A19001954.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
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 determined that the Veteran's current bilateral pes planus is not service-connected due to a duty-to-assist error, and remands the case for further examination and opinion.
- 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.
Free starter guide for your own claim
Reading this because you were denied or under-rated? Get the plain-English next steps — your appeal options, the deadline that protects you, and how appeals like yours turn out. One email, no spam.
We will only use this to send the guide. No spam, unsubscribe any time. We never sell your information.
We are not the VA. Veterans’ Rights is an independent resource built for veterans. We are not the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, not part of the government, and not endorsed by any government agency.
This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.