The Veteran seeks payment or reimbursement for medical expenses incurred at a non-VA hospital on June 17, 2012. The Board has determined that the case should be remanded to determine if the services provided were of such a nature that delay would have been hazardous to life or health and whether VA facilities were feasibly available.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms on June 17, 2012, need to be evaluated in terms of whether they constituted an emergency requiring immediate medical attention.
- Claimed conditions
- posttraumatic stress disorder with depression, coronary artery disease status post myocardial infarction, peripheral neuropathy of the right and left upper extremities, diabetes mellitus type II with diabetic nephropathy, peripheral neuropathy of the right and left legs, mild osteoarthritis of the right and left hips, shell fragment wound of the left upper arm, erectile dysfunction associated with diabetes type II with diabetic nephropathy, residual scar due to diabetic foot ulcer
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- September 25, 2015
- Citation
- 1541526
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 1541526.
What this means for you
A remand is not a loss. The Board sent the case back for more development — often a new exam or missing records — before making a final decision. Many remands later end in a grant, and the decision spells out exactly what the Board wanted to see.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for an increased initial disability rating of 60 percent for coronary artery disease status post myocardial infarction is granted. The other claims are denied.
- Granted
The Veteran's claim for Total Disability Rating Due to Individual Unemployability (TDIU) is granted, effective from November 4, 2016. The TDIU was previously denied prior to this date due to the Board's failure to consider whether his service-connected disabilities could be combined and considered 'one disability' under VA regulations.
- Granted
The Board granted an earlier effective date of September 1, 2015 for the award of service connection for coronary artery disease status post myocardial infarction based on presumptive service connection due to herbicide exposure during Vietnam service.
- Partly granted
The Board denied earlier effective dates for service connection and ratings, except for TDIU and DEA which were granted as of May 1, 2020.
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