The Veteran's service connection claims for hypertension, cervical spine disability, and gout are denied. The effective date of the grant of service connection for gout is also denied.,The Veteran's claim for a higher rating for residuals of prostate cancer is remanded due to lack of information regarding flare-ups that may indicate incapacitating exacerbations.,The Veteran's claim for a higher evaluation for gout is remanded as the examiner did not address the frequency and impact of his reported flare-ups.
The deciding factor: For hypertension, service connection cannot be established because there is no evidence of diagnosis or treatment during or within one year after service. For cervical spine disability, service connection cannot be granted due to lack of in-service injury or disease. For gout, the effective date cannot be earlier than October 28, 2013 as there was no claim prior to this date.,For residuals of prostate cancer, a higher rating is needed but the examiner did not address the Veteran's reported flare-ups which may indicate significant functional loss during these periods. For gout, a higher evaluation is required due to more frequent and severe flare-ups that affect mobility.,The examination report must include information about the frequency and impact of the Veteran’s flare-ups for both prostate cancer and gout.
- Claimed conditions
- hypertension, cervical spine disability, gout
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19111575
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 19111575.
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
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