The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at a private hospital is denied as the services were not rendered in an emergency situation and no VA facility was feasibly unavailable.
The deciding factor: The evidence does not support that the Veteran received emergent medical treatment, which would have been considered an emergency under the criteria set forth by 38 C.F.R. § 17.1002.
- Claimed conditions
- abdominal pain, prostate problems, cholelithiasis, degenerative features throughout the lumbar spine
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 2, 2010
- Citation
- 1020262
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 1020262.
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.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has found that the Veteran does not have a current respiratory disability other than sleep apnea. The claims for abdominal pain, type I diabetes, peripheral neuropathy of the upper and lower extremities, and an immune disorder are remanded due to a duty to assist error.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) and abdominal pain as there is no current diagnosed disability of IBS or functional impairment due to abdominal or constipation symptoms.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for right knee disorder, left knee disorder, right ankle disorder, left ankle disorder, right foot disorder, and left foot disorder as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected lumbar spine disorder. Service connection for abdominal pain is denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's cholelithiasis, status-post cholecystectomy, has been rated at 30 percent since the decision was made. The rating is for severe symptoms including abdominal pain and chronic diarrhea.
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