The Board has determined that the issues of service connection for renal failure as secondary to service-connected nephrolithiasis and an evaluation higher than 30 percent for service-connected nephrolithiasis are inextricably intertwined, and thus must be remanded. The Veteran's renal failure is currently being evaluated based on its aggravation by kidney stones, but a clarification of the baseline severity and causation is needed.
The deciding factor: The issues are interrelated as the evaluation for kidney stones includes consideration of their impact on renal failure, which may have been aggravated by the stones. The current evaluations do not address these factors adequately.
- Claimed conditions
- renal failure, pyelonephritis due to kidney stones
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 11, 2019
- Citation
- 19117518
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 961 · Granted: 20% (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 19117518.
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 decided to remand the case due to inadequate VA examinations and the need for further medical opinions regarding the Veteran's chronic kidney disease.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient medical opinions regarding the etiology of the Veteran's causes of death, including Agent Orange exposure and contaminated water exposure at Camp Lejeune. The appellant is free to highlight post-decisional evidence for the benefit of the examiner.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the severance of service connected death benefits was improper and grants the appeal.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeal was dismissed because the Board Appeal request was not timely filed within one year of the rating decision, and no good cause for extension was presented.
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