The Veteran's claims for service connection for chronic kidney disease, stage 3A and left ankle gout are being remanded due to inadequate VA examination opinions. The Board will seek a new examination to determine if the conditions are related to his service-connected hypertension or herbicide exposure.
The deciding factor: The initial VA examinations did not adequately address whether the Veteran's conditions were caused by or aggravated by his service-connected hypertension, and failed to consider the possibility of direct service connection due to herbicide exposure.
- Claimed conditions
- chronic kidney disease, stage 3A, left ankle gout
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- March 25, 2026
- Citation
- A26026929
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 A26026929.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for earlier effective dates for various service connection and rating decisions related to gout affecting multiple joints, left foot gout, right foot gout, elbow pronation and supination gout, elbow limitation of flexion gout, thumb gout, index finger gout, long finger gout, ring and little finger gout, middle finger gout, ankle gout, knee gout, and right thumb gout. The effective dates for these decisions were not earlier than the specified dates.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for left ankle gout, right ankle gout, left knee gout, left wrist gout, and right wrist gout. The Veteran's claim for right knee gout was incorporated into an already service-connected right knee disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the Veteran's claims for service connection for various gout disabilities in his lower extremities due to inadequate medical opinions and a pre-decisional duty to assist error.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for multiple conditions, including adjustment disorder with anxiety and depressed mood, GERD, contact dermatitis, left ankle gout, degenerative changes of the lumbosacral spine, left knee meniscal tear and gout, left big toe gout, left elbow gout, status post cervical fusion, and sleep apnea, as they are related to active duty training (ACDUTRA).
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