The Veteran's claim for an earlier effective date for service connection of a kidney disability is denied. The appeal regarding the initial rating in excess of 60 percent for his kidney disability is dismissed due to the grant of SMC based on housebound status. The Veteran's request for DEA benefits prior to May 21, 2009, is also denied.
The deciding factor: The effective date for service connection was not earlier than May 21, 2009, as there was no evidence of an intent to file a claim before this date and the Veteran did not meet the criteria for permanent total service-connected disability prior to that date.
- Claimed conditions
- kidney disability
- How they argued it
- Reopened with new and material evidence
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- 60%
- Decision date
- October 29, 2019
- Citation
- 19181171
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 19181171.
What this means for you
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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 granted service connection for kidney disability and urinary incontinence with hematuria. The remaining issues of service connection for psychiatric disability, migraine headaches, and macrocytic anemia are remanded for further consideration.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for service connection due to insufficient medical opinions and potential duty-to-assist errors. The Veteran is seeking service connection for migraine headaches, which he contends are secondary to his service-connected tinnitus, diabetes mellitus, and asthma. He also seeks service connection for a kidney disability manifested by kidney stones and a weak right kidney, which he asserts is related to his service-connected diabetes mellitus.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate opinions regarding secondary service connection for kidney cancer, specifically whether it is aggravated by service-connected hypertension and diabetes. The Veteran's claim will be reconsidered with new medical opinions addressing this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to a duty-to-assist error related to VA's statutory duties under the PACT Act. The Veteran had presumptive exposure to herbicide agents, but there is no medical opinion on whether his kidney disability was related to any toxic exposure risk activity (TERA).
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