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Denied

The Veteran's claims for higher evaluations of service-connected insomnia, right foot heel spur, left foot heel spur, and hypertension have been denied. The Board found that the Veteran’s symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher evaluation.

The deciding factor: The evidence showed that the Veteran had mild to moderate sleep impairment controlled by medication, which did not significantly impair his occupational or social functioning. For the right and left foot heel spurs, the evidence indicated no limitation of motion beyond what was already reflected in the 10% rating assigned for arthritis.

Claimed conditions
insomnia, right foot heel spur, left foot heel spur, hypertension
How they argued it
Direct service connection
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
None in this decision
Decision date
January 13, 2020
Citation
20002791

Veterans Law Judge

K. MILLIKAN

Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (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 20002791.

What this means for you

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