Citation Nr: 20028874 Decision Date: 04/24/20 Archive Date: 04/24/20 DOCKET NO. 14-27 848 DATE: April 24, 2020 ORDER Service connection for insomnia is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran’s insomnia is related to service-connected disability. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for insomnia have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.303, 3.310. REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from August 1970 to April 1972. This matter comes before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) from a July 2013 rating decision. The Board previously remanded the matter in July 2016 for a travel board hearing. In July 2017, the Veteran withdrew his request for a hearing. 38 C.F.R. § 20.702(e). The Veteran asserts that he he has insomnia due to his service-connected posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). See Veteran’s appeal (VA Form 9), received in July 2014. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by active service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection is warranted for a disability which is aggravated by, proximately due to, or the result of a service-connected disease or injury. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. Any additional impairment of earning capacity resulting from an already service-connected condition, regardless of whether or not the additional impairment is itself a separate disease or injury caused by the service-connected condition, should also be compensated. Allen v. Brown, 7 Vet. App. 439 (1995). Service connection is currently in effect for PTSD, hearing loss, and tinnitus. The Veteran's service treatment records do not contain any findings, complaints, or diagnoses shown to be relevant. Following separation from service, the evidence includes private treatment reports, which show that in December 2001, the Veteran was recommended for tinnitus maskers and Elavil at night “if his tinnitus becomes more bothersome and he is unable to sleep.” Reports, dated in 2002, note use of Ambien for sleep. In 2009, he was noted to have excessive daytime sleepiness. In 2011, he was noted to complain of symptoms that included nightmares, bad dreams, and flashbacks, with diagnoses that included PTSD, major depressive disorder, and anxiety disorder. Statements from D.B., Ph.D., dated in January and March of 2013, show that Dr. B noted that the Veteran’s symptoms currently include night terror, anxiety, reliving trauma through distressing dreams and thoughts, poor sleep, and “chronic insomnia.” He concluded that the Veteran’s PTSD, panic attacks with agoraphobia, and chronic insomnia, are due to his service-connected trauma. In summary, the Veteran has been noted to have sleep symptoms that are related to his service-connected tinnitus, and more recently, that are related to his service-connected PTSD. Although he may be being compensated for his sleep symptoms related to his PTSD under 38 C.F.R. § 4.130 (General Rating Formula for Mental Disorders), this does not preclude a grant of service connection for insomnia where the evidence indicates that it is a chronic condition that has been caused or aggravated by service-connected disability. Cf. 38 C.F.R. § 4.14. Dr. B’s statements are competent evidence to show that the Veteran has chronic insomnia that is related to his service-connected PTSD. 38 C.F.R. § 3.310. There is no competent, countervailing opinion of record against the claim. VA regulations dictate that if the evidence is in relative equipoise, then the benefit of the doubt must be resolved in the appellant's favor. 38 U.S.C. § 5107(b). That is the case here. Accordingly, service connection for insomnia is granted. A. C. MACKENZIE Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board Department of Veterans Affairs The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.