Kidney disease decisions — 2007

The Board has determined that the veteran's cause of death was not caused by or aggravated by service-connected disability, and therefore denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The veteran seeks service connection for various conditions, including hypertension, proteinuria with decrease in renal function, chronic fatigue syndrome, and erectile dysfunction, all claimed as secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus, type II. The case is being remanded for further examination and opinion regarding the relationship between these conditions and his service-connected diabetes.

The Board has determined that the veteran's kidney cancer is at least as likely as not related to his inservice exposure to trichloroethylene, and service connection for this condition is granted.

The Board has determined that the veteran's kidney disability was not incurred or aggravated by service and therefore denied his claim.

The veteran's application for RH insurance was denied because he did not meet the 'good health' requirements, as his total debits exceeded the allowable number of debits for approval of the insurance.

The Board found no evidence supporting the appellant's claim that his hepatitis C infection was caused by military service, and denied all secondary service connection claims due to lack of competent medical evidence linking any claimed disorders to the hepatitis.

The Board has granted service connection for hypertension and a kidney condition as secondary to hypertension, finding that the veteran's current conditions are related to his military service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a skin rash and an initial rating in excess of 30 percent for polycystic kidney disease, hypertension, and chronic renal insufficiency with albuminuria due to lack of current diagnoses with respect to a chronic skin rash.

The veteran's service-connected disabilities do not render him unemployable, as his combined evaluation is 60 percent and the VA examiners found him capable of performing desk work.

The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for kidney failure and heart disease as secondary to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.

The Board has remanded the case for a revised dose estimate of ionizing radiation exposure and further development under VA regulations. The veteran's cause of death is being considered as potentially related to his service-connected condition, MDS.

The Board found no evidence of current bilateral hip disorder, kidney disorder, or back disorder. The right knee disorder was not shown to be related to the service-connected left knee disability.

The veteran's kidney disorder was not incurred in or aggravated by service. The Board denied the claim for service connection.

The Board finds that the veteran's kidney disability was incurred during his active duty for training, caused by urinary blockage in his bladder. The decision grants service connection for this condition.

The Board finds that the veteran's renal cell carcinoma, initially noted during service in 1995 as minimally suspicious for cancer, was incurred in service and grants service connection.

The Board found that kidney cancer was not incurred in or aggravated by the veteran's active duty service, nor may it be presumed to be incurred in or aggravated by such service. As a result, the claim for service connection is denied.

The Board has determined that additional development is needed to address the veteran's claims for service connection and non-service connected pension purposes, including obtaining relevant medical records and scheduling VA examinations.

The veteran's service-connected type II diabetes mellitus is presumed to have been incurred during his active service, and the Board has granted service connection for renal failure, retinopathy, hypertension, congestive heart failure, and peripheral neuropathy as secondary to this condition.

The Board found that the veteran's death was not caused by any service-connected disability, and denied both claims for service connection for the cause of death and DEA.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claims for service connection for hypertension and a kidney disability, to include as secondary to service-connected diabetes mellitus. However, it denied his claim for a compensable rating for erectile dysfunction and deferred consideration of his petition to reopen his claim for service connection for a kidney disability until completion of further development.