The Board remands the claim for a new VA mental disorders examination to properly adjudicate the contentions with regard to a finding of a nexus between the Veteran's diagnosed major depressive disorder and insomnia with the circumstances of his military service.
The deciding factor: The January 2020 and May 2023 VA examinations are inadequate as they rely on uncorroborated stressors in rendering their respective diagnoses of PTSD, which is invalid for VA purposes. The claim should be further remanded to consider the Veteran's properly diagnosed psychiatric disorders.
- Claimed conditions
- insomnia, major depressive disorder
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 5, 2025
- Citation
- 25003150
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,035 · Granted: 30% (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 25003150.
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.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for specially-adapted housing assistance and a special home adaptation grant was denied because he does not meet the criteria for either benefit based on his service-connected disabilities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for an acquired psychiatric disorder, including PTSD and major depressive disorder, is being remanded due to the need for additional development regarding his alleged stressors.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal for service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder has been dismissed as the appellant requested withdrawal of the appeal.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for service connection of insomnia was denied, and the effective date is set to the date of receipt of the claim (May 31, 2024).
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