The Veteran is entitled to payment or reimbursement for the cost of medical treatment provided at the Physicians Regional Medical Center on January 25, 2013, and on a date in March 2013 due to excruciating lumbar pain with radiation to the left leg. The nearest VA facilities were not feasibly available, and the Veteran acted reasonably by seeking emergency care.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran's presentation of excruciating lumbar pain with radiation to the left leg warranted immediate medical attention at a non-VA facility due to the distance from VA facilities being nearly 160 miles and urgency of his condition.
- Claimed conditions
- lumbar pain, left leg radiation
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- February 5, 2016
- Citation
- 1604368
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 1604368.
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.
- Granted
The Board has determined that the Veteran's current low back disability, diagnosed as low back pain and lumbar pain, is related to his military service. After considering all evidence, including service treatment records and private medical opinions, the Board finds in favor of the Veteran and grants service connection for his low back disability.
- Denied
The Veteran's lumbar pain with decreased range of motion was not shown to meet the criteria for a higher initial rating than 20 percent, as it did not result in forward flexion of the thoracolumbar spine being 30 degrees or less or favorable ankylosis of the entire thoracolumbar spine.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for lumbar pain, hypoesthesia and paresthesia of the right lower extremity, left sciatic radicular pain, hypoesthesia, and paresthesia of the left lower extremity, and OSA as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected unspecified depressive disorder. The Veteran was also granted an initial evaluation of 70 percent for his service-connected unspecified depressive disorder.
- Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's request for revision of a September 2005 rating decision based on clear and unmistakable error (CUE) for denying service connection for right knee medial meniscus tear, sinusitis, and lumbar pain.
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