Kay2009

The C-file is just that.  It contains records, notes, letters having to do with any claims that the veteran applied for.  The VA gathers all information pertaining to what was claimed.  The C-file will not necessarily have all medical records.
 
In service medical records have to be requested.  These might help you:
https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&q=requesting+military+medical+records&sourceid=opera&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#kpvalbx=1
 
https://www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records

That might be the truth.
Why doctors do or do not do  medical things  r make specific notations  is not always evident in medical records.
As I might have mentioned -multiple VA doctors at two VAMCs did not give my husband proper medical care.
I had to figure out what they (VA)did not do and should have done, medically from his VA medical records and they had many opportunities over a 6 year period to correct the past medical errors.
There were no Independent Medical Opinions doctors available in those days- I had to do it all myself.
I had to study 6 years of handwritten records and decifer them, learn what medical acronyms meant, learn what the blood chem reports and MRIs revealed ,what the ECHO meant,  and learn what the autopsy slides really meant...I studied Cardio and Neuro stuff, and then years later I studied DMII. I prepared an assessment regarding my husband's medical
records that took my case step by step ,as to how the VA committed a "failure to diagnose and treat":
FTCA settlement with USA  for malpractice on:
Ischemic heart disease
Multiple TIAs, 
Major catastrophic stroke,
Section 1151 award  for all of above, causing his wrongful death
Additional award for malpracticed AO Diabete Mellitus ,  as a direct SC award,contributing to his death
Most recent award ( 2 decades after he died) for malpracticed HBP, compounded by the wrong medication for a condition he didnt even have......contributing to his death.
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I strongly suggest that unless you have a medical background ( VA forced me to develop one) you need an Independent Medical Opinion from a real (none VA )doctor, to try to determine the answer to some of your questions,  as to the benzos, and simvastatin etc. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

I did- you are right- the request should be made at the VAMC (s)that treated the veteran.
Using this form should do it:
https://www.va.gov/vaforms/va/pdf/VA3288.pdf
FOIA should the Last resort- and adds considerable time to a simple records request.
My local VAMC had a short form for me to fill out- maybe a little different then this- at the Record Access Officer's office.
I did have to prove I was the surviving spouse of the veteran-I think they just checked my deceased husand's claims-but for the Nehmer AO claim I had to provide them with probate info.
I was concerned when my husband suddenly died. A nurse had screamed at him when he tried to look at his med file after we waited for hours for his VA  regular check up. She told him he was not allowed to0 see his own file.I didn't know if I would get the medical records after he died.
With them and his autopsy I proved the VA caused his death.
Simvastatin might have helped save his life. It is a horrendous thing to wonder about the death of any veteran.
It is even more horrible to have it in VA's own words that they killed him- (words to that affect-), he should be here at hadit with me.
 
 
 

I think you need to request his medical records from the facilities that he was treated at. When I have requested mine I had to go to ROI(release of information) and show my ID and sign for them. I imagine you will have to show proper authorization to get his also. Hopefully Berta will add to this. She may have had to go through this.