The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of medical services received at the Mayo Clinic on July 5, 2014 is denied because the condition was not one that a prudent layperson would have reasonably expected to be hazardous if delayed in seeking immediate medical attention. The Gainesville VA Medical Center was feasibly available and an attempt by the Veteran to use this facility beforehand would have been considered reasonable.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's symptoms were not severe enough to warrant emergency treatment at a private facility, as they did not meet the criteria for an 'emergency' condition requiring immediate medical attention.
- Claimed conditions
- GERD, diarrhea, vomiting
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- December 19, 2019
- Citation
- 19195301
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 19195301.
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 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.
- Dismissed
The Veteran withdrew her appeal of all claims currently pending before the Board, including those for an earlier effective date for hypothyroidism and higher ratings for various conditions.
- Dismissed
The Board dismissed the veteran's appeals for service connection for various conditions due to a lack of jurisdiction over the claims.
- Dismissed
The appeal for an initial rating in excess of 70 percent, effective March 18, 2021, for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was withdrawn by the Veteran prior to the Board's decision and thus is dismissed.
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