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
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted an initial evaluation of 20 percent for left and right ankle strains, denied a compensable evaluation for bilateral hearing loss, and remanded claims for hypertension and gout.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for compensation under 38 U.S.C. §1151 for various disabilities due to treatment at a VAMC in April 2007, finding no evidence of additional disability caused by carelessness or negligence on VA's part.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for diabetes, sleep apnea, prostate cancer, urinary incontinence, residuals of gallbladder removal, gout and low back disability, as well as entitlement to a TDIU prior to April 20, 2023, due to inadequate medical opinions.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for various conditions to correct pre-decisional duty to assist errors, including obtaining outstanding Social Security Administration records.
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