The Board has remanded the case due to inadequate discussion of a VA examiner's opinion regarding the etiology of the Veteran's kidney disability. The Veteran is asked to provide releases for any non-VA care providers and copies of her VA treatment records are sought. A new examination by an appropriately qualified clinician is arranged to address the etiology of her current kidney disability under the correct legal standard, based on review of the entire evidentiary record.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the discussion of the December 2019 medical opinion was inadequate for two reasons: it did not clarify whether the examiner's finding of clear and unmistakable aggravation beyond natural progression was based on a different legal standard, and it failed to address whether the examiner reviewed the entire evidentiary record.
- Claimed conditions
- kidney disability, acute kidney stones
- How they argued it
- Presumptive (no nexus needed)
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 4, 2021
- Citation
- 21061469
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,757 · 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 21061469.
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 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.
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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.
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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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