Kidney disease decisions — 2018

The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical evidence regarding the Veteran's kidney stones, requiring a VA examination.

The Board has found that the evidence is insufficient to decide these claims and further evidentiary development is needed before decisions can be reached on the merits. This includes obtaining private medical records, scheduling VA examinations for right shoulder disorder, low back disorder, bilateral foot disorders, and prostate cancer, and verifying periods of service.

The Board has decided to remand this case due to incomplete medical records and insufficient opinions regarding whether Oxycontin use caused or aggravated the Veteran's liver and kidney disease, leading to his death.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for post-left-nephrectomy renal cancer was denied. The Board found that the condition is not related to his service, including exposure to herbicide agents.,The Veteran's lung disability (manifested by spots on the lung and not including asthma) was remanded due to incomplete records.

The Board cannot make a fully-informed decision on the issue of service connection for right renal cell carcinoma, to include as due to herbicide exposure because no VA examiner has provided an opinion. The case is being remanded for further examination and evaluation.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection for various conditions due to outstanding private treatment records and inadequate VA opinions. The Veteran is also seeking nonservice-connected pension, but his claim remains pending as he filed another claim after the initial denial.

The Board has remanded the claims for service connection due to radiation exposure, as there are insufficient records of the Veteran's exposure. The case will be referred to the Under Secretary for Health and Benefits for further review.

The Board has determined that there is no evidence to support the Veteran's claims for service connection of various conditions, including sleep disorder, hypertension, right eye disorder, heart disorder, kidney disorder, and acquired psychiatric disorders. The cases are being remanded for further development.

The Board denied service connection for the Veteran's claimed disabilities, finding that there was no evidence of herbicide exposure in Thailand and thus no presumptive service connection is warranted.

The Board has determined that the Veteran's PFB warrants a 10 percent rating, but not higher. The appeal for service connection of HTN and its secondary effects on kidney disease, CAD, and stroke is remanded due to inadequate medical opinions. TDIU remains inextricably intertwined with these issues.

The Veteran withdrew all issues in appeal before the Board could make a decision.

The Board has granted service connection for a left shoulder disability and a genitourinary disability, including kidney stones, hematuria, and erectile dysfunction. The decision resolves all doubt in favor of the Veteran.

The Veteran's claim of service connection for kidney disability was granted as secondary to his service-connected type II diabetes mellitus.,The Veteran's claim of service connection for erectile dysfunction was denied.

The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for further development due to unavailability of VA treatment records and need for additional medical opinions regarding the etiology of his claimed conditions.

The Veteran's claims for service connection have been remanded due to her submission of additional evidence. VA is instructed to assist in obtaining this evidence and then readjudicate the cases.

The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient evidence regarding the Veteran's exposure to Agent Orange during service in Thailand, which could impact his cause of death.

The Board has granted service connection for kidney cancer due to exposure at Camp Lejeune. The issues of service connection for gastrointestinal stromal tumor and carcinoid neuroendocrine tumors secondary to kidney cancer are remanded.

The Veteran's claim for service connection for kidney cancer is reopened, but the appeal remains pending as further evidence and a VA examination are needed to determine if his condition is related to military service or exposure to Agent Orange.

The Veteran's cause of death was a ruptured abdominal aneurysm, but the Board found that his hypertension and kidney disease did not contribute to his death. The conditions were not service-connected.

The rating for hydronephrosis was reduced from 30 percent to noncompensable effective December 1, 2014 due to sustained improvement in the condition.