Va Doctor Refused To Fill Out Physical Capacity Function Report For Ssdi

[sleeper692]

My medical doctor refused to fill out my physical capacity function report that my lawyer requested for SSDI.

Don't VA doctors have a duty to assist in these matters? I remember reading once upon a time that they are *required* to assist veteran's by filling out these forms for other agencies, particularly Social Security.

Can someone cite the regulation for me or tell me I'm wrong? My shrink didn't seem to have any problem filling it out but my PCP is being a....well, I'll leave the expletives out. Even more frustrating is that this is not the first issue she has refused to help me with that was not directly connected to the VA.

Thanks in advance,

Pete

[Berta]

If the Patient advocate doesn't help you, time to make an appointment with the VAMC director.

What does your lawyer think about this?

Did any past C &P exam you had cover anything to do with physical capacity functioning? Then again if they did, I assume the SSA wopuld have that info.

Many VA Patient advocates do a great job, so maybe best to see what they can do first.

I have a great friend locally who can be a very difficult VA patient.Some of his VA problems are of his own doing and he needs to just calm down. Not the case here with you at all..

He has 2 PHs, Section 1151 100%, plus SMC, and PTSD , and AO cancer- in remission, He deals with a lot.

But the last VA problem he had was totally uncalled for.

Luckily the VAMC allowed me to interfene for him and talk to the Patient advocate in his place, with his permission.

I was actually prepared to go over her head if needed, but within hours she turned the situation around for him right away by speaking to the doctor herself.

It is always good to talk to the Patient Advocate first.The ones who do a good job are truly unsung heroes of the VA.

[sleeper692]

Berta,

Thanks for the good advice and support. I haven't had a chance yet to talk to my lawyer as I didn't get the phone call from the social worker until late Friday afternoon. I will be giving him a call on Tuesday, after the holiday, to see if I should still pursue this or not. If my reconsideration has been denied, as I suspect by the change in my online status, then it will be time to file appeal and wait for the ALJ hearing which could easily be two years down the road. At that point, he may just send me to his own doctor for evaluation.

We sent in all my past C&P exams as well as medical records. Right now I'm waiting on an IU claim to be adjudicated. If that comes through, we'll send that letter in to SS right away. I'm just hoping that they haven't denied me at reconsideration already. Having to wait on the IU claim is another story. That claim was screwed up and I should have had that positive decision letter on Jan. 30th in time to send in before SS did my reconsideration review. Instead, the decision letter showed that the rater ignored the hard evidence from my C&P exams which clearly showed I met the criteria for IU. Now my VSO has a supervisor at the VARO reviewing the decision.

Between dealing with my VA health providers and with the incompetence at my VARO, I've probably missed turning in two very important documents that would have given great favor to my SS claim. Instead, delays and illegitimate denials on both fronts at the VA have probably cost me at the reconsideration level and is now forcing me to wait in the long line to reach an ALJ.

Anyway, I will talk to my lawyer on Tuesday and see if he can inquire about the reconsideration. If its not too late, I'll make an appointment with the Patient Advocate immediately after hearing from my attorney. That's probably where I should have gone in the first place. This particular social worker has never seemed very eager to go out of her way to get me help in other matters so I should have figured she wouldn't make anything happen with this.

Its just very, very frustrating. I so appreciate everyone's support. Once again, if it were not for my brothers and sisters at Hadit, I don't know what I'd do.

Pete

If the Patient advocate doesn't help you, time to make an appointment with the VAMC director.

What does your lawyer think about this?

Did any past C &P exam you had cover anything to do with physical capacity functioning? Then again if they did, I assume the SSA wopuld have that info.

Many VA Patient advocates do a great job, so maybe best to see what they can do first.

I have a great friend locally who can be a very difficult VA patient.Some of his VA problems are of his own doing and he needs to just calm down. Not the case here with you at all..

He has 2 PHs, Section 1151 100%, plus SMC, and PTSD , and AO cancer- in remission, He deals with a lot.

But the last VA problem he had was totally uncalled for.

Luckily the VAMC allowed me to interfene for him and talk to the Patient advocate in his place, with his permission.

I was actually prepared to go over her head if needed, but within hours she turned the situation around for him right away by speaking to the doctor herself.

It is always good to talk to the Patient Advocate first.The ones who do a good job are truly unsung heroes of the VA.