Kidney disease Board decisions

The Board has granted service connection for peripheral neuropathy, avitaminosis, and irritable bowel syndrome as presumptively incurred during the appellant's Prisoner of War status. Service connection for kidney stones was denied due to lack of new and material evidence.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) has determined that the veteran's claim for service connection for a kidney disorder is denied due to lack of competent medical evidence showing current disability related to service.

The Board has reopened the veteran's claims for secondary service connection to Agent Orange exposure, but finds that none of the individual conditions have been well grounded.

The Board has remanded the case due to ambiguity in the circumstances surrounding the VA examination of October 1999. The veteran's claim for service connection for PTSD will be reviewed again with a new examination by two different psychiatrists.

The Board of Veterans' Appeals has determined that the veteran's unauthorized medical expenses incurred at a private hospital should be reimbursed due to the emergent nature of his condition and the lack of feasible availability of VA facilities.

The Board found that the appellant's claim for accrued benefits was timely filed, based on her informal claims and inquiries made within one year of the veteran's death.

The veteran's disabilities do not render him in need of regular aid and attendance or housebound, as he is able to care for himself and protect himself from daily hazards.

The veteran's claim for special monthly pension based on the need for regular aid and attendance of another person is denied as there is no evidence showing he is helpless or so nearly helpless that he requires such assistance.

The veteran's neuropsychiatric disability is rated at 100 percent, the highest possible rating. The right renal calculus with microhematuria is rated at noncompensable (0 percent).

The Board denied the appellant's claim to reopen her service connection for the cause of the veteran's death, including as a result of Agent Orange exposure, due to lack of new and material evidence.

The Board found that there was no evidence linking the veteran's death to his service-connected conditions, and thus denied the claim for service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for a kidney disorder and kidney stones, hypertension, and minimal degenerative joint disease of the lumbar spine due to lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his period of active service.

The Board denied the veteran's claims for service connection for diabetic neuropathy, seborrheic dermatitis, and kidney stones as secondary to Agent Orange exposure due to a lack of competent medical evidence linking these conditions to his military service.

The Board has determined that the veteran's asthma, allergic skin reaction, seizure disorder, prostate disorder, kidney disorder, sore glands, uvulectomy (throat operation), stomach disorder, low back disorder, and cervical spine disorder are all service-connected.

The Board found that the veteran's right nephrectomy was not unnecessary or improper, and there is no evidence of additional disability beyond what was intended. The claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1151 was denied.

The veteran's appeal was denied as he did not obtain prior VA authorization for the home improvements and structural alterations, which were completed without such authorization.

The Board has determined that the veteran's claims for service connection are not well grounded as there is no evidence of a current disability or link to service.

The Board found that the veteran's death was caused by renal cell carcinoma, which is not related to service or a service-connected condition. The preponderance of evidence does not support granting service connection for the cause of the veteran's death.

The Board is remanding the case to the RO for readjudication in accordance with the Hodge decision, which allows consideration of new evidence submitted by the veteran since the last final denial.

The Board found that the veteran's adenocarcinoma of the right kidney is not causally related to any inservice radiation exposure and denied his claim for service connection.