The Board has granted the Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of medical expenses incurred during a non-VA hospitalization at UC Davis from November 18, to November 19, 2017 due to an emergency pilonidal cyst removal. The decision is based on the emergent nature of the condition and the need for fetal monitoring.
The deciding factor: The Board found that a prudent layperson would have reasonably expected delay in seeking immediate medical attention for the Veteran's condition would have been hazardous to her life or health, including the health of her unborn child. The VA facility was not feasibly available given the nature of the Veteran's condition and need for fetal monitoring.
- Claimed conditions
- Pilonidal cyst
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- April 5, 2023
- Citation
- 23020854
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 23020854.
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.
- Granted
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities prevented him from securing or following substantially gainful employment prior to September 10, 2021.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected degenerative arthritis of the lumbosacral spine and pilonidal cyst are being remanded due to the need for a new VA examination.
- Denied
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities do not prevent him from obtaining or maintaining substantially gainful employment.
- Denied
The Veteran's claims for increased rating and service connection were denied. The Veteran's surgical scar related to pilonidal cyst excision did not meet the criteria for a compensable rating, while his lumbar spine disability was not shown to have had its onset in service or be otherwise related to service.
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