Need Some Guidance

[mssoup1]

My husband has several claims in to the VARO. Some remands from the BVA, some new claims as a result of the BVA hearing. He had C & P exams set up for all of these claims and he went to each. One of the C & P exam reports was horrendous. Nothing in the report was at all accurate. Wrote the report based on a condition that my husband does not now have or never has had. What happened to what he was supposed to be writing the report on? We can't figure that out. He also had another C & P exam, by the same examiner, whereby he never even bothered to write up a report at all. During the examination, the examiner really seemed to be speaking in our favor, but that is as far as he got. Never wrote anything up. I did get the results of the inadequate C & P exam and discovered that nothing had been written up on the other exam. I sent this information to the VARO and explained in detail to them why these were inadequate exams and should not be used in deciding his claims. I also told them that we did not want this same examiner to redo the exam. Never heard anything. Called the VAMC and talked with someone affiliated with the Directors office in charge of the C & P examiners. I explained the problem and she told me that I would be contacted back by someone in that office. Never heard anything from them. I wanted to file a complaint against this examiner, as this is not the first time he has done this. Well, after several calls to the VARO during the last few weeks to find out where his claims stood, I then sent an e-mail thinking I would get more information. Well, I did, to a degree. Here is what they had to say:

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Mr. ,

Your remanded appeal is awaiting the processing of your new claims. With one exception, we have received the examination reports for your claimed conditions. The exception is the skin condition. We asked the VAMC for completion of the inadequate examination. They responded that because of your expressed disappointment with the examination, they were asking us to have another VAMC complete the examination. We replied that we had no such authority, that their manual said that this is their responsibility. Their manual says that they must find a facility willing to accept the examination and that you, the veteran, must agree to travel to the other facility. I assume that they will contact you soon on this matter.

Veterans Service Center Manager

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First, I am upset that I never heard back from the Directors office at the VAMC. Think I will call them again tomorrow and tell them that we want an appointment set up to speak with them. Secondly, since my husband just had another complete knee replacement (NSC), he could in no way be sent to another VAMC in an area that would be that far away. He couldn't make the trip. Also, from the response that I received back from the VARO (as I showed above), neither the VARO or the VAMC knows what they are doing. They assume I will be contacted. When? In the next century. Also, there were two inadequate exams, not one, but according to the reply from the VARO, they only spoke of one. How was the other inadequate exam handled? I am so frustrated with this whole system that I could scream. I have been dealing with some of these claims for over 6 years and those are remands back from the BVA back in February 2005.

Questions for the group:

Should I call the VAMC tomorrow and set up an appointment to speak with the Director over the C & P examiners in order to complain about these inadequate exams being done by this examiner and also about the problem my husband would have in making a long distance trip at this time to go to another VAMC for something that should have been able to adequately been done here?

How do I go about finding out what happened to the exam that was written up, but was considered inadequate based on the fact tht the exam was reporting on a condition my husband doesn't have and was not what the C & P exam was set up for?

Should I get the VARO involved with the problem in sending my husband to another VAMC?

Since my husband would not be able to make the long distance trip, how would he be able to get a new examination and would this go against him in any way? It kinda sounded like in the VARO reply to me that my husband would have to agree to travel the distance to another VAMC for an exam.

We have had other claims held up because of this examiner. He is not out to assist the veteran in any way. In fact, I think he does everything he can to help get the claim denied. We have filed other complaints in the past due to the inadequate exams that this examiner is giving. Why is he still employed there?

Any help or assistance on what direction I should take would be geatly appreciated. I am getting more frustrated and worn down as each day goes by. Trying to cope with my husbands needs with his knee replacement, along with his other problems, taking care of everything else by myself, along with my health problems, I don't need all of this on me as well.

Sorry for the ranting, but where else can you go, except HADIT, to be able to do this and everyone understands what you are going through.

Thanks for any help you can give me.

mssoup

[Testvet]

sounds like Dr Durkin at Dorn the VA has lot's of these doctors thats scary................

[Railroader]

Where is this RO?....May help someone else out if they live in this area.

Do you have a service officer helping you out? I think that I would try to find one if I were you as well as getting help here in Hadit. Maybe the newspapers could help. But who knows!

[mssoup1]

This has occirred at the Salem, Virginia VAMC and the Roanoke, Virginia VARO Yes, we do have a SO, but on paper only. I have had to handle my husbands claims myself in order to keep on top of what is going on. When any paperwork comes through from the VARO and we, along with our SO gets a copy, we don't hear from our SO about this letter until after we have received it and I have already respnded back to the VARO on it. He states that he just got it and wanted to touch base with us. Too late. This guy is very nice, but has no idea how to communicate with the VARO on claims. It is too late in my husbands claims to change at this point, so we have to stay with him.

Since I have had a little time to sleep on this, I am now even madder at the whole situation. My husbands claims are being held up due to getting incompetent exams and now we have both the VARO and VAMC fighting over who is going to handle getting this problem resolved This is not the first time that we have had to have a C & P exam redone due to it being inadequate by this very same examiner. But the second time around, the examiner was made at us, therefore, it didn't go in our favor. I told the VARO that this time I did not want the same examiner redoing this C & P exam because I knew what the outcome would be.

If need be, I will get every body involved in this situation. The veteran has to fight so hard on his claims anyway to have something like this happen on top of it. They won't use his doctors records on his condition, but they allow these type of doctors to perform inadequate examinations on our veterans to use in deciding their claims. I have no doubt that these claims would have already been denied had I not gotten the C & P exams early enough in the process to respond back to the VARO concerning them.

As far as getting an IMO, we have already been that route on a previous claim before. Even though the IMO stated in his letter, using those words at least likely as not, the VARO still denied his claim. When we got to the BVA level, they gave him an instant approval on this claim.

Please keep those responses coming in on what you think we should do and how we should handle this situation.

mssoup

[Testvet]

We have all had inadequate exams it is one of the very favorite delaying tactics, no C File present, makes the C&P worthless, my doctor repeated twice that he didn't have the C File to review, it was like he was emphasizing it so no one would miss it. He gave me a bad C&P anyway so I don't want that one to be used anyhow I can already refute the one from last year that stated there is no literature showing a link between CAD and PTSD, they said my documnets from the National Center on PTSD a VA owned website were internet trash, if it's trash they paid for it and the studies I submitted were written by the forwer director and current director Dr.s Schnurr and Friedman, Dr Durkin is our version of the "Nazi soup kitchen" guy, no nothing for you deny deny deny on my general medical 3 years ago he said he deferred all comments about my specialty problems to the respective specialists, but ever since then has always adds addendums to their reports making comments for the rater to base his denials on. Some like the above statement totally ludicrous. Thanks to who ever posted all the BVA decisions but I printed them out for the VARO to show when it gets to the BVA they are going to approve it. Then I added the studies done by Boscarino and the letter he wrote to Secretary of the VA in 2005. Just keep the appeals current. If you or your husband didn;t have PTSD before you started this claim process the odds are good you will have it before it's over lol...........

[Guest Berta]

"How do I go about finding out what happened to the exam that was written up, but was considered inadequate based on the fact tht the exam was reporting on a condition my husband doesn't have and was not what the C & P exam was set up for?"

Do you have the actual results that the doctor wrote?

"As far as getting an IMO, we have already been that route on a previous claim before. Even though the IMO stated in his letter, using those words at least likely as not, the VARO still denied his claim. When we got to the BVA level, they gave him an instant approval on this claim."

I hate to suggest the expense of getting an IMO again- but it could help this additional claim.

Then again:

"Should I call the VAMC tomorrow and set up an appointment to speak with the Director over the C & P examiners in order to complain about these inadequate exams being done by this examiner and also about the problem my husband would have in making a long distance trip at this time to go to another VAMC for something that should have been able to adequately been done here?"

I sure see your point and always feel once you get on their rear ends you have to stay there until you get results--

You could write to the VA Inspector General too-however they have a jurisdiction that does not involve complaints about VAROs and the claims process-

I wrote to them and asked them how I could fit a compliant into that specific jurisdiction as their jurisdiction criteria and regs are not at their web site.

(But then I stated my entire complaint anyhow -told them I felt many of these VARO employees were illiterate and stated exactly how I felt it WAS specfically in their jurisdiction)

They immediately sent my VARO a letter and then the VARO had a few days to respond to them and then actually started really working on my claims.

It might help your situation (at least tell the director that this is might be your next avenue of approach and then see it through)

http://www.va.gov/oig/

Called Gen Counsel in Wash today and found that they are probably working on my FOIA appeal and maybe not the claim I thought they had-but the 800 # said I was back with the adjudicator so maybe that is a good sign.

[Guest Jim S.]

This is somewhat related after hearing all the complaints on bad examiners. Since we are being given a medical exam, are we allowed to know what qualifications the examiner has to be doing this job and are we allowed to get it in writing?

Since it is a medical exam, don't we have the right to have the assurance that the examiner is quaified, as would be the case if we were to go to a civilian medical examiner/Dr.? Or is this a right that we sign away just as we did in the service. Of course if you were to show the Dr incompitant to do their job or find out later they are not qualified, then you had your equivolent of a district attorney to file a complaint with and expect results.

I guess the VA and the VAMC is exempt from proving their examiners are competent to give expert opinions, since it is so hare to get them to act on all these complaints. It's as if they have a mind set that all we are is a bunch of malcontents that will go to any lengths to get our claims approved by putting blaim on the examiners for the reason behind our claims being denied.

If the had better checks and balances and at least yearly proficiency tests or some oversight to check on the competancey of the examiners, I doubt we would be all complaining so much and in the end, getting our claims through with better exams and better Raters in less time to boot.

Jim S. B)

Off to get my fluids check and my pill stash approved and restocked. LoL :P