Kidney disease decisions — 2000

The Board has determined that additional evidence is needed to fully and fairly adjudicate the veteran's claims for service connection for a psychiatric disorder, including PTSD, and a kidney disorder. The RO must attempt to obtain the veteran's treatment records from the Bryan Dorn VA Hospital in Columbia, South Carolina, for the period including September 1993 to November 1994. They should also notify the veteran of potential additional evidence that may exist and advise him to submit such records if they can assist his claims.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection of residuals of a bullet wound to the left side of the body, hypertension, and kidney condition. The evidence submitted since the August 1990 RO decision was not new and material.

The Board denied the appellant's claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, finding that there was no competent evidence showing a direct link between the veteran's service-connected conditions and his death.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a right hip disorder and kidney stones, finding no new and material evidence to reopen the right hip claim and noting that there is no competent medical evidence linking current kidney stone conditions to service.

The veteran's disabilities, when considered in combination, result in his inability to care for some of his daily personal needs without regular personal assistance from his spouse. The veteran is not shown to be substantial confined to his dwelling or immediate premises as a result of disabilities.

The Board granted an increased evaluation for chronic renal failure, but denied service connection for diabetes mellitus as secondary to the service-connected chronic renal failure.

The Board found that the veteran's residuals of a fracture of the right mandible met the criteria for a 10% evaluation effective February 17, 1994. The left renal calculus was not productive of any ascertainable residuals and thus warranted a noncompensable rating.