The Veteran's appeal is remanded for further examination and development regarding his kidney condition, initially claimed as hydronephrosis. His hypertension claim also requires a statement of the case.
The deciding factor: The Veteran has not been provided with an adequate VA examination to determine if he currently has a kidney disability or if it is related to service.
- Claimed conditions
- patellofemoral syndrome, hydronephrosis
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 7, 2019
- Citation
- 19116624
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,948 · Granted: 29% (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 19116624.
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.
- Granted
The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for service connection for his left knee disability, finding that a current disability is related to an in-service injury and resolving all doubt in favor of the Veteran.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's kidney condition, including hydronephrosis and/or renal cyst, is remanded for further review due to a failure to obtain an adequate medical opinion regarding the etiology of his condition. The examiner must consider all potential exposures, including contaminated water at Camp Lejeune and fuels as a result of his MOS as a bulk fuel man.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's hydronephrosis is granted with a 10 percent evaluation effective August 23, 2011. The Board remanded the case for further development and consideration of increased evaluations.
- Partly granted
The Board granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) due to the combined effects of the Veteran's service-connected disabilities, but denied an increased rating for hydronephrosis.
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