The veteran's claim for reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at a private facility on April 13, 2002 was denied because the VA did not provide prior authorization and there was no evidence that the respiratory problems constituted an emergency or that VA facilities were unavailable.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the veteran's respiratory problems did not constitute a medical emergency and that VA facilities were available to treat his condition, thus failing to meet one of the three criteria for reimbursement under 38 U.S.C.A. § 1728.
- Claimed conditions
- dementia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), post-traumatic headaches, respiratory problems
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 2, 2005
- Citation
- 0502458
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 673 · Granted: 27% (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 0502458.
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