The Board denied the Veteran's claim for service connection for gout, finding that there was no in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury and no evidence of a relationship between her current diagnosis of gout and her active duty. The Board also found no secondary service connection as the preponderance of the evidence did not support a finding that the Veteran's gout was proximately caused by, or the result of, her service-connected hypertension.
The deciding factor: The VA examiner opined that the Veteran’s gout is less likely than not proximately due to, or the result of, her service-connected hypertension. The examiner explained that 50% of patients with hypertension develop gout when diuretics are taken to control hypertension and the Veteran did not take diuretics for her hypertension.
- Claimed conditions
- gout
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19101488
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,350 · Granted: 26% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19101488.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's gout claim for additional development, including obtaining an adequate VA examination and ensuring all relevant records are obtained. The TDIU claim is also being remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran meets the basic medical eligibility criteria for PCAFC benefits due to his need for personal care services based on symptoms or residuals of neurological or other impairment or injury. However, further clinical evaluation is needed to determine if participation in the program is in the Veteran's best interest.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the claims of service connection for gout and bilateral foot conditions due to insufficient evidence. The Veteran's representative requested an informal conference, but it did not take place before the April 2021 rating decision was issued.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for a thoracolumbar spine disability, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss disorder, gout, multiple painful joints, bilateral ankle disorder, bilateral knee disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).
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