The Board denied payment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred at Princeton Baptist Medical Center on March 27, 2019 due to lack of prior authorization and the absence of emergency treatment criteria being met.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's non-VA care was not authorized in advance and did not meet the requirements for emergency services under 38 U.S.C. § 1725.
- Claimed conditions
- laceration of the left index finger
- How they argued it
- Not specified
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- August 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19163771
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 1,960 · Granted: 36% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted 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. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19163771.
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Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Denied
The Veteran's residuals of a laceration of the left index finger are manifested by limitation of range of motion, but no evidence of amputation. The Board finds that the preponderance of the evidence is against the assignment of a rating greater than 10 percent for this disability.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is being remanded for additional development, including a new VA examination to assess the severity of his service-connected residuals of a laceration of the left index finger and any associated residual nerve damage.
- Denied
The Veteran's claim for a compensable initial rating for residuals of laceration of the left index finger was denied, as his disability did not meet the criteria for any higher evaluation. The claim for service connection for a bilateral foot disorder was also denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's appeal is remanded due to the need for a Travel Board hearing. The case will be returned to the Board after the hearing.
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