The Board has remanded the claims for nephrolithiasis, left knee disability, right knee disability, residuals of bladder cancer, and residuals of prostate cancer due to incomplete service treatment records. Further development is needed including obtaining complete Coast Guard service records, scheduling a VA examination to determine if current kidney stones are related to in-service incidences, examining the nature and etiology of any diagnosed knee disabilities, and determining the etiology of the appellant's bladder and prostate cancer.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the appellant’s service treatment records from his Coast Guard period were incomplete and remanded for further development including obtaining these records. The Board also noted that the May 2015 VA examination was inadequate as it did not account for the appellant’s reports of recurrent kidney stones.
- Claimed conditions
- nephrolithiasis (kidney stones), left knee disability, right knee disability, residuals of bladder cancer (status post cystectomy), residuals of prostate cancer (status post prostatectomy)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 26, 2019
- Citation
- 19188873
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,810 · Granted: 23% (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 19188873.
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.
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The Board has decided to remand the case due to insufficient rationale in the July 2012 VA examination for the Veteran's left knee disability, and a new addendum opinion is needed.
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The Board has remanded the claims for shin splints, right knee disability, acquired psychiatric disorder (depression), stomach disability, and left ear hearing loss due to errors in providing notice of the right to a hearing.
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