The Board remands the claims for service connection for a urinary tract disability and nephrolithiasis (kidney stones) due to pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
The deciding factor: Remand is required to obtain an adequate medical examination with opinions regarding the likely onset and etiology of the Veteran's diagnosed chronic urinary tract infections and kidney stones, including their relationship to service and toxic exposure risk activities.
- Claimed conditions
- Urinary tract disability, Nephrolithiasis (kidney stones)
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- October 6, 2025
- Citation
- A25086249
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 998 · Granted: 40% (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 A25086249.
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 Veteran's kidney stones were granted a 10 percent rating, which is the maximum non-compensable rating available. The symptoms included intermittent dysuria and flank pain without evidence of infection or catheter drainage.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a duty to assist error, specifically failing to obtain a VA examination for the Veteran's urinary tract disability. The examiner is required to provide an opinion on whether the disability is related to service or service-connected conditions.
- Granted
The Veteran's kidney stone condition is rated at a 10 percent rating, but no more. The medical evidence shows occasional attacks of colic without infection or catheter drainage.
- Denied
The Board has denied service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and urinary tract disability, finding that the evidence does not support a link to military service.
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