hypertension Nexus From A Retired Doctor

[stanval]

Please help. I am a frequent reader of this site and seldom post. Thanks for your service and the wealth of information on this site.

Does it matter if a nexus letter is obtained from a retired doctor who is a friend. Person would give their medical opinion/ facts regarding some of these diseases being secondary to one another PTSD, hypertension, sleep apnea, kidney cancer and prostate cancer. Thanks.

[Philip Rogers]

As long as they are a currently licensed physician, it should be more than acceptable.

pr

[carlie]

Is your prostate cancer a presumed condition due to AO or herbicide exposure ?

[stanval]

Yes Carlie.

[Berta]

The doc would need some experience in these fields of disability and would need to provide a strong medical rationale for each nexus you need.

He/She should also have copies of any denials and copies of any C & P exams and your entire med recs.

The VA uses google these days to develop their C & P rationales sometimes and a good independent doc can do that as well, and find abstracts or treatises that could help support the claims and reference them in the opinion.

In our IMO forum (I will bump it up) is the IMO criteria and the wording that VA is familar with such as "at least as likely as not".

One C & P against a claim and one good IMO for the claim equals Relative Equipoise ( VAOLA for BOD Benefit of the Doubt)

and a BOD determination should award the claim.

(dont forget, VA owns the BOD scale and often kicks Blind Justice in the knee so the VA side of the scale falls in their favor and those situations should be aggressively appealed.)

[Berta]

Here is the IMO criteria I mentioned:

[Patrick428]

Undeerstand an IMO or IMHO is usually from 10 to 30 pages long and is quite different from a Nexus letter. it does not matter if a doctor is retired or not as long as they maintain an active and unrestricted license to practice medicine or psychology. I will post a Nexus letter I often use when writing them for veteans. Nexus letters are short and to the point. One does not want to give the VA any wiggle room or an out by nitpicking terms or phrases:

Date: SSN or C-File: 000-00-0000

Name of Patient: Jone Doe

1111 Whichway Drive

Anywhere, USA

Too whom it may concern:

I am Patrick428, a PhD level Licensed Psychologist with an unrestricted license to practice Psychology.

I have reviewed Mr. Doe’s Service Medical Records, VA Medical Records, treatment notes, and evaluations from Dr. Susan Wannabe from the Local VAMC, in Local, North Carolina, as well as his more contemporary medical records and history.

I performed a Review Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Disability Benefits Questionnaire (DBQ) 21-0960-3 on July 27, 2014.

In my review of records and administration of the PTSD DBQ, it shows Mr. Doe has no pre-military history of trauma, abuse, brain injury, or record of any mental health treatment. Records show Mr. Doe suffers from PTSD while stationed with the 1^st Battalion, 3^rd Marines in the Republic of Vietnam where in June 1966 he and his team members were surrounded by a contingent of North Vietnamese soldiers when a firefight erupted wounding Mr. Doe and killing two of his squad members. There is evidence a member of his team was taken prisoner and never found.

Mr. Doe suffers classic symptoms of PTSD and has been diagnosed with PTSD by the VA on September 12, 2012 by Dr. Susan Wannabee at the VA Outpatient Clinic at the Local VAMC, North Carolina. In 1998, the VA determined Mr. Doe was permanently and totally disabled for NSC Major Depression. Additionally, an exchange of letters between Mr. Doe and the Local VAMC dated October 20, 2000 shows evidence was presented to indicating his mood disorder is service related.

I have concluded, and it is my opinion that it is “more likely than not” that Mr. Doe current condition of PTSD and Major Depression were caused by the above mentioned combat action during his time of military service in the Republic of Vietnam.

Patrick428, Ph.D.

Licensed Psychologist NC 1XXX

Nowhere, North Carolina