Case A26040573

Summary

The veteran, who served from November 1988 to November 1992, appeals the effective date for service connection for chronic kidney disease status post transplant. The veteran sought an effective date of January 30, 1998. The Board reviewed the case under the Appeals Modernization Act, noting that it could only consider evidence of record at the time of the November 2025 AOJ decision. The veteran's original claim was denied in September 1998 because the evidence did not show the condition occurred in or was caused by service. However, a June 1998 VA examination report indicated that medical records were unavailable to the examiner. The Board found that the service treatment records, received in 1992 but not associated with the claims file at the time of the June 1998 examination, met the criteria under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c). This regulation allows for reconsideration when relevant official service department records are newly associated with the claims file. The Board noted that the November 2025 rating decision granted service connection based on microscopic hematuria found in service treatment records, which indicated an underlying kidney condition. Applying 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(3), the Board determined the effective date for the grant of service connection is the date entitlement arose or the date VA received the previously decided claim, whichever is later. As the chronic kidney disease developed before the original claim, the effective date was set as January 30, 1998. The claim for the effective date is granted.

Rationale

38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c) criteria met; Service treatment records not associated with claims file at time of prior decision; Microscopic hematuria in service records indicated underlying kidney condition

Full Decision Text

Citation Nr: A26040573
Decision Date: 04/30/26	Archive Date: 04/30/26

DOCKET NO. 260217-643534
DATE: April 30, 2026

ORDER

Entitlement to an effective date of January 30, 1998, for the grant of service connection for chronic kidney disease status post transplant is granted.

FINDING OF FACT

1. The June 1998 VA examination report documented that medical records were not available at the time of the examination. 

2. The November 2025 rating decision made an award of entitlement to service connection for chronic kidney disease that was based, at least in part, on relevant official service treatment records that existed and that had not been associated with the claims file when VA first decided the claim in September 1998.

CONCLUSION OF LAW

The criteria for an effective date of January 30, 1998, for the grant of service connection for chronic kidney disease status post transplant have been met. 38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.156 (c), 3.400.

REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION

The Veteran served on active duty from November 1988 to November 1992.

The rating decision on appeal was issued in November 2025 and constitutes an initial decision; therefore, the modernized review system, also known as the Appeals Modernization Act (AMA), applies.  

In the February 2026 VA Form 10182, Decision Review Request: Board Appeal (Notice of Disagreement), the Veteran elected the Direct Review docket.

Therefore, the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) may only consider the evidence of record at the time of the November 2025 agency of original jurisdiction (AOJ) decision on appeal. 38 C.F.R. § 20.301. Any evidence submitted after the AOJ decision on appeal cannot be considered by the Board. 38 C.F.R. §§ 20.300, 20.301, 20.801. 

Entitlement to an effective date of January 30, 1998, for the grant of service connection for chronic kidney disease status post transplant. 

Except as otherwise provided, the effective date of an evaluation and award of compensation based on an original claim, a claim reopened after final disallowance, or a claim for increase will be the date of receipt of the claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. 38 U.S.C. § 5100; 38 C.F.R. § 3.400. If a claim for disability compensation is received within one year after separation from service, the effective date of entitlement is the day following separation or the date entitlement arose. 38 C.F.R. § 3.400 (b)(2). Otherwise, it is the date of receipt of claim or the date entitlement arose, whichever is later. See 38 C.F.R. § 3.400.

However, an exception to this rule arises if VA receives or associates with the claims file relevant official service department records that existed and had not been associated with the claims file when VA first decided the claim. Under 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c), if at any time after VA issues a decision on a claim it receives or associates with the claims file relevant official service department records that existed and had not been associated with the claims file when it first decided the claim, VA is required to reconsider the claim de novo. See Kisor v. Shulkin, 869 F.3d 1360 (Fed. Cir. 2017) (vacated on other grounds sub nom. Kisor v. Wilkie, 139 S. Ct. 2400); 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c).  This means that when relevant service records are newly associated with a claimant's file, VA has a duty to reconsider the veteran's previously denied claim on the merits. The purpose of this exception is to put the veteran in the same position he or she would have been in had VA considered the records in the first place. Blubaugh v. McDonald, 773 F.3d 1310, 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2014).

The term "relevant" in the context of section 3.156(c)(1) means noncumulative and pertinent to the matter at issue in the case. See Kisor, 869 F.3d at 1368-69.  Where the newly obtained records do not remedy the defects of the prior claim and contain facts that were never in question, they are not "relevant" within the meaning of 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(1). Id. at 1368-69 (c
 been in had VA considered the records in the first place. Blubaugh v. McDonald, 773 F.3d 1310, 1313 (Fed. Cir. 2014).

The term "relevant" in the context of section 3.156(c)(1) means noncumulative and pertinent to the matter at issue in the case. See Kisor, 869 F.3d at 1368-69.  Where the newly obtained records do not remedy the defects of the prior claim and contain facts that were never in question, they are not "relevant" within the meaning of 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(1). Id. at 1368-69 (citing Blubaugh, 777 F.3d at 1314).

Once it is determined that reconsideration is warranted under subsection 3.156(c)(1), paragraph (c)(3) establishes the effective date for any benefits granted as a result of reconsideration. Kisor, 869 F.3d at 1363. That section provides that an award made based at least in part on the newly received service records "is effective on the date entitlement arose or the date VA received the previously decided claim, whichever is later...." 38 C.F.R. § 3.156 (c)(3). "Section 3.156(c) thus provides for an effective date for claims that are reconsidered that is different from the effective date for claims that are reopened." Kisor, 869 F.3d at 1363.

The Veteran contends that he is entitled to an effective date earlier than October 7, 2024, for the grant of service connection for chronic kidney disease. The Veteran's previously denied claim in the September 1998 rating decision stated that the evidence did not show that the condition occurred in or was caused by service. 

The June 1998 VA examination report documented that the examiner did not have access to the Veteran's medical records prior to the examination. As such, the Board finds that the criteria in 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c) have been met in this case.

The Board notes that the service treatment records have a receipt date of 1992, but the fact that the 1998 examiner did not have access to these records calls into question whether the records were associated with the claims file at the time of the Veteran's claim. The examiner's inability to access the service treatment records leads the Board to believe the service treatment records were not properly associated with the claims file at the time of the June 1998 VA examination. 

As noted above, the September 1998 rating decision denied entitlement to service connection for chronic kidney disease because there was no evidence that the condition began in service or was caused by service. The November 2025 VA medical opinion documented that the records showed the Veteran had red blood cells (hematuria) in his urine on microscopic evaluation on two different occasions when he was evaluated for his back pain and injury after an in-service fall. Microscopic hematuria is a sign of an underlying condition involving the kidneys. This medical opinion was used to grant service connection in the November 2025 rating decision. As such, the service treatment records meet the requirements of 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(1) in this case, and so the Board will reconsider the previously denied claim received on January 30, 1998.

As stated previously, 38 C.F.R. § 3.156(c)(3) provides that an award that is made based on newly associated records that were in VA's possession at the time of the previously denied claim "is effective on the date entitlement arose or the date VA received the previously decided claim, whichever is later." As the Veteran's chronic kidney disease developed before the date of his original claim seeking service connection for this condition, the proper effective date for the grant of service connection is the date of the original claim, in this case is January 30, 1998. January 30, 1998, is the date of the earliest claim seeking service connection for chronic kidney disease, and there is no other possible avenue that would allow for an earlier effective date.

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?

Based on the foregoing, the claim is granted, and January 30, 1998, is the proper effective date for entitlement to service connection for chronic kidney disease.  38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.156(c), 3.400.

 

 

Ann K. Minami

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	P. McDaniels, Counsel

The Board's decision in this case is binding only with respect to the instant matter decided. This decision is not precedential and does
 kidney disease, and there is no other possible avenue that would allow for an earlier effective date.

(Continued on the next page)

?

Based on the foregoing, the claim is granted, and January 30, 1998, is the proper effective date for entitlement to service connection for chronic kidney disease.  38 U.S.C. § 5110; 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.156(c), 3.400.

 

 

Ann K. Minami

Veterans Law Judge

Board of Veterans' Appeals

Attorney for the Board	P. McDaniels, Counsel

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.