The Board has granted payment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred from June 22 to 23, 2016, at Mease Dunedin Hospital (MDH) due to the Veteran's emergency condition and the unavailability of a VA facility.
The deciding factor: The Board found that the Veteran’s abdominal pain was severe enough to be considered an emergency, and that seeking treatment at MDH was reasonable given the distance to the nearest VA facility.
- Claimed conditions
- abdominal pain, appendicitis, bowel obstruction, pancreatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, gastroesophageal reflux disease, gastroenteritis, gastritis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19142469
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 19142469.
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.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for various conditions, including a head injury, headache disorder, erectile dysfunction, left earache disorder, chronic fatigue, right shoulder disorder, irritable bowel syndrome, right foot disorder, GERD, and left shoulder disorder, as the evidence did not support current diagnoses of these conditions.
- Granted
The Board granted an effective date of February 13, 2024 for a 30 percent rating for irritable bowel syndrome.
- Granted
The Board granted a rating of 60 percent from January 27, 2016 to July 7, 2022 for the Veteran's duodenal ulcer, duodenitis, gastritis, and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).
- Partly granted
The Board granted service connection for gastroesophageal reflux disease, obstructive sleep apnea, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease but denied service connection for irritable bowel syndrome. The Board also denied an increased rating for the Veteran's service-connected psychiatric condition.
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