Kidney disease decisions — 2007

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a left shoulder condition, degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine, and status post right kidney anomaly due to lack of evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension, a kidney condition, a bladder condition with blood in the urine, and chronic constipation with blood in the stool, all claimed as secondary to his service-connected intestinal schistosomiasis.

The Board has determined that service connection is not warranted for any of the claimed disabilities, including those related to herbicide exposure.

The Board denied the appellant's claims for increased ratings for bilateral hearing loss and hemorrhoids, as well as his service connection claims for migraine headaches, nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), and left knee disability. The Board found that the evidence did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating under applicable VA regulations.

The Board has ordered additional development to determine if the veteran's death was caused by his service-connected conditions or due to his laryngeal cancer, which may have been related to Agent Orange exposure. The case is being remanded for further review.

The Board has determined that the veteran's end stage renal disease was not incurred in or aggravated by active service and is not related to any event, injury, or disease during his military service. The evidence does not support a finding of service connection for this condition.

The Board has determined that the veteran's current brain and kidney impairments are caused by an injury she sustained during her inactive duty on September 9, 1994. As such, service connection is granted for these conditions.

The Board found that the veteran's renal cancer is not service connected and denied his claim, as there was no evidence of a causal link between herbicide exposure and the development of the condition.

The Board has remanded the case due to the need for an advisory opinion from the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology regarding the primary site of the veteran's cancer, specifically whether it was kidney or lung cancer.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for kidney cancer, right knee disorder, bilateral hearing loss, and tinnitus. The evidence did not establish a nexus between these conditions and his military service.

The Board has denied the claim for service connection for the cause of death due to lack of evidence showing that any service-connected disability caused or contributed to the veteran's death.,Service connection was not granted for heart attack with bypass surgery, cerebral vascular accident, seizure attack, Parkinson's disease, and protein S deficiency as secondary to service-connected essential tremors.

The Board has determined that the veteran's condition required continued private hospital care until February 16, 2005. As VA facilities were not feasibly available for him during this period, reimbursement is granted for the remaining time of his hospitalization.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension and COPD, finding no relationship between these conditions and his military service or his service-connected diabetes.

The Board found that the veteran's prostate cancer is not service-connected due to lack of evidence linking it to his in-service exposure to ionizing radiation.

The Board has determined that the March 10, 1950 rating decision denying service connection for a back injury and kidney disability was not clearly and unmistakably erroneous. The veteran's cervicothoracic spine disability is established as service connected.

The Board has determined that the veteran's service-connected PTSD contributed substantially and materially to his death, caused by rhabdomyolysis, stroke, poorly controlled diabetes mellitus, depression, and aggravated diabetes.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for an increased rating for hypertension and service connection for diabetes mellitus secondary to hypertension. The issues of entitlement to service connection for renal disease secondary to hypertension and an eye condition, also related to hypertension, are pending in the Appeals Management Center (AMC).

The veteran's service-connected left hydronephrosis and renal calculi, along with sepsis with renal failure, resulted in a 100% disability rating effective from March 2002 until his death. Accrued benefits are payable for this increased rating.

The Board has determined that the veteran's renal tuberculosis is inactive and asymptomatic, and therefore does not meet the criteria for a compensable disability rating.

The Board has granted service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, effective from May 12, 2005, based on a presumption under the PACT Act.