The veteran's unauthorized medical expenses incurred from September 27, 2001 to September 28, 2001 are eligible for payment or reimbursement due to the emergency nature of his chest pain and the lack of feasible VA facilities.
The deciding factor: The veteran presented with an emergent condition (unstable angina) that required immediate medical attention. The nearest available appropriate level of care was at a non-VA facility, and no VA facility had a coronary care unit feasibly available for transfer or treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- cardiovascular disease, gout, diabetes mellitus, peripheral neuropathy of the lower extremities, low back disability
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 7, 2005
- Citation
- 0500479
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 407 · Granted: 23% (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 0500479.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
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The Board has remanded the Veteran's gout claim for additional development, including obtaining an adequate VA examination and ensuring all relevant records are obtained. The TDIU claim is also being remanded.
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The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, visual impairment, hypertension, and erectile dysfunction due to lack of exposure to herbicide agents during service. The Veteran's claims were not granted.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for service connection on the merits are being remanded due to new evidence and development needs. The maximum disability rating for tinnitus has already been assigned.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for diabetes mellitus, prostate cancer, ischemic heart disease, right lower extremity peripheral artery disease, left lower extremity peripheral artery disease, and hypertension as the evidence did not establish an in-service event or exposure to herbicide agents.
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