DBQ for TBI is missing

[Lemuel]

I tried to find the DBQ for TBI from the download list.  It is missing in action.  Is this because of the revision in process of 38 CFR?  I need it to get an neuropsychological assessment done by protocol by a local source.  The VA is insisting they cannot use a local contractor and that I must travel to Denver, 3.5 hours away for the assessment.  The remand didn't specify it be done by a VA qualified psychologist.  Only that it be done in protocol which the last one wasn't.

Looks like I'll have to go to the CAVC with this.

[Tbird]

From the VA's FAQ on DBQ's

Q:Which DBQs are not available for use by private providers?

A: There are no DBQs for the following medical examinations:

• Initial Examination for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
• Hearing Loss and Tinnitus
• Residuals of Traumatic Brain Injury
• Cold Injury Residuals
• Prisoner of War Examination Protocol
• Gulf War Medical Examination
• General Medical Examination for Compensation Purposes
• General Medical Examination for Pension Purposes

Q: Why are those DBQs not available for public use?

A: VA has determined that the examinations required to complete those DBQs either require specialized training, specialized equipment, or specialized testing generally not available through private providers or, if these examinations are available, the cost to the Veteran would be so great as to render the DBQ cost-prohibitive. For these reasons, VA has determined that it is in the Veteran's best interest to still require these examinations to be conducted by a VA clinician.

https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/dbq_faqs.asp

[Lemuel]

Not so.  When I was in Japan in 2010, the DBQ and protocol for a neuropsychological assessment were sent to the Japanese City Hospital in Kumamoto Japan and were translated into Japanese for him.  My wife acted as my translator during the assessment.  The assessment report was written in Japanese and then translated by a VA contract translator for the VA.

It was a very poor translation for the most part.  As an example, the Kata Kana phonetic spelling for the English word, Bike was translated as bicycle.  The Japanese word for Bicycle is a Chinese character because the Japanese first experience with a bicycle came from China.  Kata Kana is used for foreign words for things from English and other foreign languages.  "Bike" in Kata Kana means Motorized two wheeled vehicle.  Motorcycle or scooter.

So the examination was not according to protocol.

The examination I had in 2015 was done by an unqualified psychologist who didn't follow protocol and only did the tests as instructed on a computer.  Also not at varied times during a normal working routine for the patient.

Going to Denver, 3.5 hours away, is not going to provide a protocol neuropsychological assessment.  Although I've had 5 done for adjudication purposes only one followed the requirements of 38 CFR.  That was the first one in 1985 which diagnosed the brain injury.  The other's were not sufficient to even diagnose a brain injury because I have a residual 126 verbal IQ and a 98 visual spatial IQ showing injury to the right occipital lobe or left temporal lobe area responsible to bring the signals to the "conscious side" of the brain.

Likely the loss of 48 points of visual spatial IQ is a combination of an older head injury to the right brain and the later SC injury to the left temporal lobe.  The verbal IQ dropped 20 points also from my middle school IQ test which was verified by my induction test scores after the pre service TBI but before the SC TBI.  My GCT was 63 on entry to the Navy, about 6-10 point drop in visual spatial IQ from my middle school IQ test results.

So, Tbird, you may presently be correct but what you wrote above has not been held to be true between 1985 and the present including my 2015 C&P examination.

There was a DBQ for residuals of TBI in December of 2009 which was used for my examination that was finished over several days in January of 2010.  There was a DBQ that the NP used in 2015 that is part of the C&P exam for TBI and is a part of my RBA.  But there is not a DBQ download on the download page of DBQs presently.

 

[Tbird]

@Lemuel Thanks for pointing that out for veterans in that timeframe.