Issues Not Addressed At C&p

[dougm]

Hey all,

I had a C&P today, which addressed the following issues: bilateral flat feet, left wrist pain, left shoulder pain, lower back pain.

The examiner was not asked to address the following items: upper back pain, bipolar disorder, insomnia disorder, hemorrhoids, rhinitis, and chronic bronchitis.

Most of these other issues are well documented (with recent notes from VA treatment) with the exception of the upper back pain. The rhinitis and bronchitis were addressed by a pulmonary specialist, and bipolar/insomnia have been extensively addressed at mental health.

Here is the question. Should I be concerned that these items were not included at the C&P exam, and that I do not have a scheduled mental health C&P? Additionally, does this mean they have already decided against service connecting these items?

Thanks in advance.

Doug

[john999]

If you claimed the other conditions then you will probably be set up for a C&P. Did you get a VCAA letter on those other conditions?

[dougm]

If you claimed the other conditions then you will probably be set up for a C&P. Did you get a VCAA letter on those other conditions?

I did claim the other issues at the same time, and responded to all issues in the VCAA letter at the same time.

[Pete53]

Doug

If it were me I would ask what was up. If you have a Service Officer they should be able to get someone to Review Officer to talk about it

[Hoppy]

Doug,

What the following statement tells me is that you were diagnosed with these conditions.

Most of these other issues are well documented (with recent notes from VA treatment) with the exception of the upper back pain. The rhinitis and bronchitis were addressed by a pulmonary specialist, and bipolar/insomnia have been extensively addressed at mental health.

The VCAA requires that if you file a claim for a condition that has been diagnosed post service a C&P should be scheduled. If they do not provide a C&P they are supposed to provide you with a clear explanation as to why the exams were not scheduled. This would be explained in the decision. The VCAA letters that I have seen do not explain as much as they should. Sometimes the decisions do not explain as much as they should.

This is what I have told veterans many times over the years. If you have the ear of a doctor and he sounds interested in helping; try and get the doctor to write nexus statements and any other letter in support of your claim. The C&P process is not something to depend on. Many veterans on this cite have won claims with IMO’s after the claim was originally denied on the opinion of the C&P exams. Several I know of won without ever having a C&P because a VA doctor or private doctor got involved and wrote good statements that were submitted with the claim.

When my claim was denied my SO had no idea what was going through the heads of the raters until we got the decision. My SO was a rater for twenty years and thought the claim was a slam dunk. Do not be surprised that answers are hard to come by. Keep pushing them for the information you seek. Keep up your appeals and get a good Service officer. I battled them for 8.5 years to win a claim that was as my SO thought a slam dunk winner.

Edited May 2, 2009 by Hoppy