The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for mild restrictive lung disease (claimed as asthma) prior to December 7, 2016 was denied.,The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for the grant of service connection for sleep apnea with restrictive lung disease (previously rated as mild restrictive lung disease (claimed as asthma)) was also denied.
The deciding factor: There is no medical evidence showing that the Veteran required daily inhalational or oral bronchodilator therapy, or inhalational anti-inflammatory medication for his asthma prior to December 7, 2016.
- Claimed conditions
- mild restrictive lung disease (claimed as asthma), primary insomnia
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19105336
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,287 · 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 19105336.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board has determined that a remand is necessary to obtain an addendum medical opinion and to obtain any outstanding treatment records from Dr. Levi Kirkland.
- Denied
The Veteran's primary insomnia is productive of occupational and social impairment with reduced reliability and productivity, but does not meet the criteria for a higher evaluation.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 30 percent for primary insomnia and a compensable rating for chronic mixed headache syndrome due to the Veteran's failure to attend scheduled VA examinations without good cause.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the issue of entitlement to service connection for an acquired psychiatric disability, including depression, unspecified, a generalized anxiety disorder, and primary insomnia, due to duty-to-assist errors.
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