The Veteran's claim for reimbursement of non-VA medical services incurred at Martin Medical Center in Stuart, Florida on August 13, 2014 is granted. The treatment was deemed necessary due to the severity and urgency of his condition (cellulitis), which required immediate medical attention.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's left hand condition met the criteria for an emergency medical condition as it manifested itself by acute symptoms of severe pain that would have been hazardous if delayed, necessitating prompt treatment at a non-VA facility due to unavailability of VA facilities.
- Claimed conditions
- cellulitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- January 3, 2022
- Citation
- 22000118
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,329 · Granted: 31% (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 22000118.
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 the cause of death due to lack of evidence showing a link between any service-connected disability and the Veteran's death. The conditions listed on his death certificate were not related to his military service.
- Denied
The Board has determined that the Veteran does not have a current disability of cellulitis and there is no recent diagnosis prior to his claim. Therefore, service connection for cellulitis is denied.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has decided to remand the case due to inadequate medical opinions and needs further development.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the Veteran's claims for lumbar spine disability, dermatitis, cellulitis, IBS, diverticulitis, hiatal hernia (GERD), and respiratory disability due to potential service connection based on in-service exposures. The VA must obtain updated medical opinions addressing these issues.
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