The Board denied the veteran's claim for payment of unauthorized medical expenses at Cooley Dickinson Hospital due to lack of service-connected condition, non-service-connected disability aggravating a service-connected disability, or participation in vocational rehabilitation. The VA facilities were not feasibly available and an attempt to use them beforehand would have been reasonable.
The deciding factor: The veteran's hospitalization was for a non-service connected illness (colon cancer) which did not meet the criteria for reimbursement under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1728 or 38 C.F.R. § 17.20.
- Claimed conditions
- Colon cancer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2002
- Citation
- 0200146
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 0200146.
What this means for you
A denial is a starting point, not the end of the road. You can see why this claim fell short — and, if you are still inside the one-year window, the appeal lanes that may remain open to you.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a lung disability and a bilateral foot disability based on new evidence, but denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, hypertension, and colon cancer.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for colon cancer and individual unemployability (TDIU) due to a duty to assist error, requiring further development of evidence related to toxic exposure activities.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claim for service connection for the cause of the Veteran's death to ensure all reasonably raised theories of entitlement are developed, specifically regarding a direct service connection theory based on complaints in the Veteran's service treatment records.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for brain tumor, prostate cancer, colon cancer, and bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome due to inadequate medical opinions regarding toxic exposure.
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