The Veteran's claim for reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred during a non-VA hospitalization on February 24, 2012 was denied because the care provided was not in response to an emergency and VA facilities were feasibly available.
The deciding factor: The treatment provided was not rendered in a medical emergency as required by law, and there was no indication that VA facilities were not feasible for providing the necessary treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- abcess
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- February 22, 2019
- Citation
- 19112832
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 940 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the indexed 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. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19112832.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Granted
The Veteran's post-surgical wound infection, abcess, and bilateral lower extremity peripheral neuropathy are found to be a result of VA medical treatment. The Board finds that the proximate cause was not due to VA fault or an unforeseen event.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at non-VA facilities on October 3, 2013, and October 13, 2013. The claim for October 15, 2013, treatment was also denied as a VA facility was feasibly available.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied reimbursement for unauthorized medical expenses as the services were not deemed necessary due to a prudent layperson's expectation that delay in seeking immediate medical attention would not have been hazardous.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
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