The Veteran's claim for payment or reimbursement of non-VA medical treatment at CaroMont Regional Medical Center and Gastonia Physician Services on April 26, 2018 is granted because the emergency visit was deemed a medical emergency under prudent layperson standards. The closest VA facility with an emergency room was 50 miles away, making it not feasibly available.
The deciding factor: The non-VA treatment constituted a medical emergency due to the Veteran's severe abdominal and rectal pain related to diverticulitis, which delayed care would have been hazardous to his health.
- Claimed conditions
- diverticulitis
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- November 16, 2023
- Citation
- 23061417
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 23061417.
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 Veteran's claim of entitlement to service connection for a colon condition, including as caused by herbicide agent exposure or secondary to his service-connected disabilities, was denied. The Board found that the evidence did not support a finding of service connection on any basis.
- Dismissed
The Veteran's appeals for a compensable rating for chronic diarrhea, service connection for diverticulitis, and service connection for a respiratory system disability to include restrictive lung disease and sleep apnea syndrome have been dismissed due to the Veteran's death.
- Granted
The Board has granted service connection for diverticulitis as secondary to the Veteran's service-connected irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).
- Granted
The Veteran's hypertension is granted a 10 percent rating.,Service connection for diverticulitis and basal cell carcinoma/skin cancer residuals with scarring are denied.
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