The Board denied the Veteran's request for payment or reimbursement of unauthorized medical expenses incurred at a private hospital due to lack of feasibly available VA facilities, despite finding that a 'medical emergency' existed and the Veteran was not service-connected for his condition.
The deciding factor: VA determined that feasible VA facilities were available but the Veteran chose to go to a private facility instead.
- Claimed conditions
- Left knee pain, Left calf pain, Varicosities of the left leg
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 14, 2019
- Citation
- 19185467
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 19185467.
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 bilateral hearing loss, right wrist pain, left wrist pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, and a traumatic brain injury as the evidence did not support that these conditions were incurred in or aggravated by active military service.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for multiple conditions, including traumatic brain injury (TBI), pain of cervical and cervicothoracic regions, radicular pain and hypoesthesia of left upper extremity, pain and dysfunction of lumbar spine, right sciatic radicular pain, left sciatic radicular pain, right hip pain, left hip pain, right knee pain, left knee pain, post traumatic residual pain of right foot, and bilateral hearing loss.
- Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings and service connection, finding that his symptoms did not meet the criteria for higher disability ratings.
- Denied
The Board denied service connection for bilateral hearing loss, an acquired psychiatric disorder (PTSD, depression, anxiety), TMJ, right and left knee pain, and right and left hip disorders as the evidence did not support a finding of a current disability or a link to active service.
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