Qq About Dr. Bash? Requesting For Imo..

[bob_abad]

QQ gang,

I live in northern California(Sf Bay Area), and Dr. Bash's office is in Maryland/Washington D.C. area. I am aware that he is an expert helping out Vets for disability claims, etc.

As an option and if I decided to work with him coming up w/ an OSA IMO, will VA sort of raise the flag how in the heck can I have an IMO from a well known Vet friendly/VA oriented doctor 3k miles away? I could be wasting $$$. This possible?

Hope to hear from the gang. Thanks!

[carlie]

bob_,

There is both positive and negative on Dr. Bash.

Some he's been able to help - some not.

Usually the main complaint I've seen is that his fees were high.

That's all I know.

carlie

[LarryJ]

If you are contemplating spending a couple thou on a medical opinion, then what's $500 for a roundtrip ticket and a motel room?

There is also another doctor that was mentioned, in Oklahoma City, here on hadit in just the last couple weeks. He, also, specializes in workmens comp and VA issues. Can't recall his name but maybe someone else can, or you can do a search or just read the last couple weeks' postings.

Either way, I'd call and talk to the office(s), and make sure that the doc(s) are familiar with your particular issue(s).

jmho

[Berta]

In some cases Dr. Bash wants to examine the vet he is opining for-in person.

He is expensive. I do not regret the 2 IMos he prepared for me at all-

but I dont suggest paying for an IMO unless you feel confident that it will help you.

But will his field of specialty be what you need? Dr. Bash is a Neuro Radiologist.

My claim is to prove my husband had DMII from AO-which contributed to his death.

I emailed Dr. Bash with a brief description of some of the med evidence I had-and he emailed me- 'if you got that-this sounds like a good case'-

I had plenty more to send to him-within days after receiving my evidence he called me and said he would prepare an opinion to support my claim.

what has diabetes to do with a Neuro Radiologist?

My husband had extensive brain trauma- numerous strokes and cerebral lesions and I had the complete MRI results and the complete autopsy.An opinion from a Neuro RAdiologist was exactly what I needed.

Dr. Bash clearly stated along with his detailed opinion that took in many many other factors- that he had seen similiar types of brain traumas in "thousands" of diabetics whose MRIs he had read.

This supported extensive medical research I had done on how DMII (particularily if left undiagnosed and untreated) can affect the brain.

He had had expertise to opine on the cardio aspects of my claim along with the ECHO etc etc and supported his findings with medical treatises.

My point is that any IMO doctor-and there are many on the net-needs to have enough expertise to fully make strong medically sound statements.

I already know that the VA opiner who recently read my IMos from Dr. Bash (after many many years)

has no qualifications at all that come close to Dr. Bash's experience with "thousands of MRIs in diabetics" statements.

I also found a cardiologist with exempliary credentials at a Forensic Medical Opinion site- who-for 1750 - can provide me with another IMO if needed based solely on the cardiac manifestations.

Still I know the VA opiner did not have the expertise to combat Dr. Bash's credentials rgarding my husband's heart disease either.Dr. Bash gave some medical citations that were very strong on that and I had a wealth of additional evidence on that aspect as well.

My point is that if a vet or widow gets an IMO- the doctor's expertise should match the field of disability or death they are opining on.

If a vet has a private doc- that might be the best source for a good- and maybe even free- IMO.

Any IMO doctor should follow the specific IMO criteria.

One good thing about Dr. Bash is that he knows the VA's criteria for IMOs and has dealt with VA a lot over the years.

You could search the BVA site to see if he opined on a similiar type of claim and whether his opinion helped the vet.

Edited January 18, 2009 by Berta

[bob_abad]

Berta,

Thanks for sharing your IMO's from Dr. Bash, and also about your late husband's situation. You are one of a kind!

I know you wear lots of hats, and you make a difference. It's an amazing privilege for all your assistance to many of us here @hadit.

Maraming salamat Po! (Philippines-Tagalog)

Thank you very much with sincere respect!

[Pete53]

If the VA was truly Vet Friendly it would help Veterans get IMO's for their claims.

[hurryupnwait]

Bob Ahead

I also live in California and I decided to fly out to DC to have Dr. Bash examine me in person. I had submitted a request for copies of my claim file 6 months earlier from the AMC in DC. I called the AMC and requested that my claims copy be ready for me to pick when I was in DC or I was going to bring Dr. Bash with me to the AMC and view it in person. I told them that Dr. Bash was in a wheel chair and that they would need to accommodate him and that we would need about 1.5 hours of time to view it. The AMC would have to have an employee in the room with us the whole time. So I think they thought it was more prudent and time saving to have the copies ready.

They had the c file copy ready for me to pick up, I picked it up at 10AM, then I went to see Dr. Bash, he reviewed my complete c file and gave me a physical exam.

I did get service connected and I think Dr. Bash's IME helped. In the award letter, the AMC did not mention that he had reviewed my complete c file nor that he gave me a physical exam, instead of a medical opinion. I think they know that he mainly does IMO's, so they assumed that this was one too.

The letter Dr. Bash did for me had several typo errors, which seemed odd. It was expensive.

In retrospect, would I do it again, if the c file copies were not ready to be picked up, I think I would have sent him copies of medical records that he needed and have him do an IMO.

In my claim, I had a favorable C&P exam, then the AMC went doctor shopping just before going back to the rater. They sent the c file and C&P exam back to the medical director where the C&P exam was done for clarification and he wrote a very negative opinion. I had to overcome this clarification. After hearing of this from a vet friendly VSO at the AMC, not mine. I decided to take action.

Within the next ten days, I was in Washington DC picking up my c file copy and being examined by Dr. Bash.

Happy Trails

Paul