Citation Nr: 21006364 Decision Date: 02/03/21 Archive Date: 02/03/21 DOCKET NO. 20-00 763 DATE: February 3, 2021 REMANDED Service connection for chronic kidney disease is remanded. REASONS FOR REMAND The Veteran served honorably in the United States Army from November 1964 to November 1967. This matter comes to the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a June 2018 rating decision of a Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). This appeal is being adjudicated under the legacy appellate framework. In the December 2019 substantive appeal perfecting this matter to the Board, the Veteran indicated that he did not desire a personal hearing before the Board. The Board notes that, in July 2020, the Board remanded a claim for service connection for posttraumatic stress disorder for further development. That matter has not been returned to the Board yet, and the Board will address the matter in a separate decision once it is returned for consideration. (CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE) Service connection for chronic kidney disease is remanded. At issue is whether the Veteran is entitled to service connection for chronic kidney disease. The RO previously conceded in June 2018 that the Veteran has chronic kidney disease, and that the Veteran sustained herbicide agent exposure during his service in the Vietnam War. Veterans may be granted service connection on a presumptive basis for diseases associated with exposure to herbicide agents like nephritis. 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.307, 3.309. Although it is unclear from the record whether or not the Veteran’s chronic kidney disease is nephritis, nephritis is a kidney disease. See MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia, https://medlineplus.gov/ ency/article/000464.htm (last visited January 25, 2021). Therefore, a potential link exists between a current disability and an in-service incurrence, and this matter must be remanded for a VA examination. McLendon v. Nicholson, 20 Vet. App. 79 (2006). The matters are REMANDED for the following action: Arrange to provide the Veteran with a VA examination (or if necessary a telephone interview and a medical opinion based on the results of the interview and the evidence of record) in order to address the following: (a.) Is it at least as likely as not that the Veteran has a diagnosis of nephritis? Why or why not? If so, then please identify any symptoms of associated with diagnosis of nephritis; the severity of any such symptoms; and when these symptoms began to manifest. (b.) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or more) that the Veteran has a diagnosis of a kidney disease? Why or why not? If so, then please identify any and all such diagnoses. (c.) Is it at least as likely as not (50 percent or more) that a medical nexus exists between a current diagnosis of a kidney disease (chronic or otherwise) and an in-service incurrence? Why or why not? (d.) What is the medical significance, if any, of any herbicide agent exposure that the Veteran sustained during his period of service? Why? (e.) What is the medical significance, if any, of the fact that the Veteran had a cyst removed from his hip? Why? DAVID L. WIGHT Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals Attorney for the Board D. Seaton The Board’s decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does not establish VA policies or interpretations of general applicability. 38 C.F.R. § 20.1303.