The Board has determined that the Veteran's emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy was provided in an emergent manner and a VA facility was not feasibly available at the time. Therefore, payment or reimbursement for the medical services provided by MLAC is granted.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the treatment was of such urgency due to the patient's severe abdominal pain that delay would have been hazardous to life or health, and that using a VA facility beforehand would not have been reasonable given the early morning hour.
- Claimed conditions
- abdominal pain, cholecystectomy
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 9, 2019
- Citation
- 19127375
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.
- Partly granted
The Board denied the Veteran's claims for increased ratings and granted service connection for bilateral tinnitus.
- Denied
The Board denied a rating in excess of 40 percent for the Veteran's lumbar spine disability and remanded claims for service connection for restless leg syndrome, cholecystectomy, and right lower extremity radiculopathy.
- 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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a hysterectomy, recurrent pregnancy loss, appendectomy status post fecaliths appendix (appendectomy), and cholecystectomy as there was no evidence of injury or disease during active duty for training at Camp Lejeune in July 1981, and the current disabilities were not related to active service.
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