The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred on August 29, 2013 at DeSoto Memorial Hospital is denied because the evidence does not support that her situation was an emergency and a prudent layperson would have reasonably expected delay in seeking immediate medical attention to be hazardous.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms were not emergent as she had been experiencing them for more than two months, knew of her diagnosis, and did not face serious impairment or dysfunction requiring immediate treatment.
- Claimed conditions
- Spine disability, Left leg symptoms
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 23, 2019
- Citation
- 19131588
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for a spine disability, finding that the evidence did not support a causal relationship between the current disability and the Veteran's military service.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board remands the claims for service connection for bilateral hearing loss, right knee disability, left knee disability, spine disability, and sleep apnea to cure pre-decisional duty to assist errors.
- Granted
The Veteran is granted a total disability rating based on individual unemployability (TDIU) and special monthly compensation (SMC) due to his service-connected spine disability and associated radiculopathy of the right and left lower extremities, effective September 27, 2013.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims of entitlement to a higher rating for PTSD and service connection for spine disability are being remanded due to the need for additional medical examinations and evaluations.
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