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Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)

The Board has referred a claim of entitlement to compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 based on surgery performed at the James A. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, Florida in January 2011 and is remanding the claim for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at the Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Meyeres, Florida from February 6, 2011 through February 21, 2011.

The deciding factor: The referred claim for compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 must be adjudicated by the regional office before the present claim of payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses can be adjudicated because the Veteran argues that the February 2011 private treatment was necessitated by the VA Medical Center prematurely discharging him in January 2011.

Claimed conditions
unknown
How they argued it
Not specified
Exposure basis
None
Rating
Not verified here — check the original decision
Decision date
May 20, 2019
Citation
19138933

Veterans Law Judge

DEREK R. BROWN

Decisions by this judge: 1,987 · Granted: 15% (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 19138933.

What this means for you

A remand sends an issue back for more development, often a new examination or missing records. It does not award the benefit or decide the final outcome. The original decision explains the additional work ordered.

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.

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