The Veteran's unauthorized medical expenses incurred during private treatment at Conemaugh Memorial Medical Center from December 19, 2015 to December 21, 2015 are denied as VA facilities were feasibly available and an attempt to use them beforehand would have been considered reasonable by a prudent layperson.
The deciding factor: VA facilities were feasibly available for the Veteran's treatment and an attempt to use them beforehand would have been reasonable.
- Claimed conditions
- abdominal pain, cholelithiasis with elevated liver function tests and leukocytosis, acute cholecystitis without obstruction
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 19, 2018
- Citation
- 1803672
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 1803672.
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.
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for a right shoulder disability, finding that the Veteran's current condition is related to an in-service lifting injury. The claims for abdominal pain and shortness of breath were remanded for further development.
- Partly granted
The Veteran was granted an effective date of August 29, 2022 for the award of service connection for chest pain and shortness of breath but denied an earlier effective date for abdominal pain. Hemochromatosis remains under review.
- Granted
The Board granted service connection for a disability manifested by abdominal/cervical pain, finding that the Veteran's symptoms are related to her service.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the appeals for service connection and increased rating due to improper concurrent election of review options.
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