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Failure Of C&P Examiner

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63Charlie

Question

In the middle of a C&P exam for scars, the examiner didn't take any measurements.

He sent a woman in after he left, to take photos of my scars.

 

I asked this person," Why didn't the examiner measure my scars?", as this was necessary to get a fair decision/rating.

She left and in a short time the examiner returned.

 

I asked him the same question.

He measured one scar on the back of my neck and none of the others.

I even specifically pointed out the ones I wanted him to measure.

He said that the rating officer will see the scars from my photos and that is mostly how they make their decision.

 

That isn't the rules on scar evaluation.

 

This guy was a P.A.

 

It was a bad omen when one of the first questions the examiner asked was," What is your current disability rating?"

That made me feel like he was going to do all he could to make sure I would never reach 70% disability.

 

At the end of the exam he stated he was a veteran too.

 

When his assistant returned once again to take the photos, she began to tell me how my examiner was a really good guy and was serving in the Reserves currently.

Took all I could do to bite my tongue and hold back and tell her how he did a hatchet job on my claims.

 

Finally.... forgot to mention..he checked my ankles range of motion without using a goniometer, or any form of test instrument.

Then he proceeded to inform me that I needed to get a medical diagnosis of my ankle condition.

I told him that I have an orthopedic appointment scheduled for my ankles the following week.

 

MY QUESTION IS: Will I have to wait and NOD/appeal the bad exam AFTER a decision has been made? Or is there an alternative such as writing a complaint and/or request a new exam before I get a rating?

Edited by 63Charlie
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  • Content Curator/HadIt.com Elder
On 7/30/2016 at 0:32 AM, 63Charlie said:

Yes, Vync.

I read the pertinent DBQ before my exam.

My examiner refused my request to properly do the testing for scars mandated on the DBQ.

Walked out and didn't measure anything!

The left side of my face is fugly due to scar deformity.

When I was active in the Army, I even asked the doctor about  dermabrasion because the cystic acne scars had deformed my face, and neck..

So yessiree..I told one of his staff that he needed to come back again and finish his exam for my scars since he didn't measure any.

He strolls back in, measures only one scar on the back of my neck. That's when I said why didn't you measure these facial scars. Replied, "Nope. The rating officer will see them on photos and said RO mostly decides on photos to do ratings anyway."

I will have another C&P coming up for rhinitis in the future. If it is a bad as this last C&P, I will ask them why they aren't doing it properly? I will use their reasoning as evidence in my appeal. Too bad I can't tape record them.

It's bad when these examiners have no accountability. I mean what do you do? File a complaint? with who? File an appeal..sure and wait many years to get to see someone that will actually follow the rules and apply the law.

I'm under the impression that C&P examiners receive instructions by the ratings officers on what to test.

Are they also given instructions to keep the rating as low as possible?

Why would he want to know what my rating was before the exam began?

 

You make some really good points.

Granted I am not all that familiar with scar claims, I would have assumed that the photos would at least include some form of reference for measurement. Pathology labs will often hold a ruler up to the kidney stone prior to taking a picture in order to ensure it was measured accurately. Given the fact that we are all humans and have different size body parts, it would just be common sense for them to take a measurement. The only exceptions I personally would consider would be cases of 0% or 100% coverage.

As for your rhinitis exam, keep in mind that septal deviation and polyps are key factors. Some septum deviations are painfully obvious, but others look normal from the outside and are only on the inside. My exam was over 25 years ago, but they did an initial look, got an x-ray, and then sent me for a CAT scan. All cases, deviated septum, polyps, and 100% blockage on one side. I'm not certain how they do it nowadays, but definitely hold them to the standard.

As for tape recording exams, I have "heard" that it is not allowed, but never tried to do it myself. Personally, if they are doing their job correctly then there would be no concern about recording them.

Keep in mind that you are dealing with the government. In the civilian world, if you screw up all the time, then you will not have a job. Like Berta said, the VA killed her late husband and tried to cover it up. I bet that the careless government workers who did that were likely not fired or charged with a crime.

I don't think they were given instructions to keep the ratings as low as possible. Back in the 90's, it is sure what it felt like. There are some people who carry a chip on their shoulder. I tend to think that a lot of the docs who did exams in the 70's-90's may have been in college during or after the Vietnam war, but harbor an anti-veteran sentiment. However, I did have one VA specialist doctor, not a C&P examiner, who understood how the system worked, performed an exam, and even went so far as to write me a rock solid nexus for it. I tried this with other VA non-C&P docs and they avoided it like the plague.

In the 90's, I had a C&P examiner neurologist who performed my exam while going back to his desk repeatedly to take bites out of his submarine sandwich. The write up was very lousy. On one paragraph, he provided a nexus and then in another paragraph he said the opposite.

In the exam requests, the doctors are provided with info as to whether or not a claim is for initial, review, or increased ratings. The current rating % is not supposed to be relevant. They can look it up in the system. Their job is supposed to focus on the exam and then provide an accurate assessment and rationale.

 

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On 7/30/2016 at 8:08 AM, Buck52 said:

I can only imagine President Clinton got his information and from the VA Officials  and trusted them.

jmo

...............Buck

I can definitely see this happening

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23 hours ago, Vync said:

I can definitely see this happening

And both of his predecessors as well.  Funny, no one wants to listen to the Vets getting screwed, but they'll listen all day to the VA head shed and take their word as gold.

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13 minutes ago, Andyman73 said:

And both of his predecessors as well.  Funny, no one wants to listen to the Vets getting screwed, but they'll listen all day to the VA head shed and take their word as gold.

I guess a fancy title means they must know more than the veterans who are in the trenches with firsthand knowledge

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The big shots would get better & truer information from the vets, but maybe the big shots sees the  heads of VA getting paid well and I suppose they just trust them.

I thought Bob McDonald was going to listen to the veterans but the big shots keeps him from doing that...if he wants to keep his Job.

Its all about politics  in my opinion.  and how long rope you have.

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On 7/30/2016 at 8:57 AM, Berta said:

They deliberately left out a final statement by a C & P examiner to deny my DIC claim.11997. He had speculated a ridiculous Cause of death , but what the RO failed to add was ,that he wrote, "that an autopsy could have ruled out." 

They did have the doctor's name in the denial so I called him up and raised Hell...to learn that VA not only did  not give him the 6 page autopsy (which they had) but also what it revealed would have completely changed his opinion. He then got angrier than I was and I could tell the VA had pressured him for exactly what they expected from him.He sent me a copy of his exact opinion that they had and that gave me the evidence I needed to keep fighting them and draw them out on the autopsy.

(They also removed it from the files they sent to the General Counsel. I fought back on that and when the VA  got the 12th copy of it , OGC awarded the FTCA case and then after another RO denial, the RO awarded DIC under 1151.

 

 

Good gosh almighty.

The VA put you through pure hell, Berta.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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