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Denied

The Board denied the Veteran's claims for an increased rating in excess of 70 percent for PTSD and service connection for sleep disturbance as secondary to a lumbar spine disability. The Board found that the current PTSD symptoms did not meet the criteria for a higher rating, and determined that the chronic sleep impairment was subsumed under the PTSD diagnosis.

The deciding factor: The March 2020 VA examiner opined that the current chronic sleep impairment is not caused or aggravated by the service-connected lumbar spine disability and is subsumed under the Veteran's PTSD diagnosis.

Claimed conditions
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Chronic Sleep Impairment
How they argued it
Secondary to another service-connected condition
Exposure basis
None
Rating assigned
70%
Decision date
March 2, 2021
Citation
21011533

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 21011533.

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