The Board has determined that a new VA examination is needed to assess whether the Veteran's current kidney disabilities are related to service, as the July 2016 VA examiner did not review the Veteran’s records and provide an accurate assessment of her kidney disabilities.
The deciding factor: The July 2016 VA examiner did not review the Veteran’s records and provided an inadequate opinion regarding her kidney disabilities.
- Claimed conditions
- atrophic left kidney, renal cysts of the left kidney
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 8, 2019
- Citation
- 19101775
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,902 · Granted: 11% (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 19101775.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient information regarding whether the Veteran's atrophic left kidney is a congenital defect or disease, and if it worsened during service. The claim will be reconsidered after additional development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to the need for additional VA treatment records and an addendum opinion regarding the onset of a kidney disability during service.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for the Veteran's congenital atrophic left kidney with hydronephrosis, finding that it was aggravated during active duty service. The claim to reopen and the main issue of service connection are both granted.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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