Does The Va Ever Consider An Imo Letter To Be Outdated?

[georgiapapa]

Does the VA ever consider an IMO letter submitted by a claimant to be outdated or expired after a certain period of time? Since it is not unusual for the VARO to take months and sometimes years to process a claim, IMO letters submitted by claimants may end up being months or years old by the time the IMO letter is reviewed and considered by the VARO.

Would a VARO ever require a claimant to go back to their private doctor who prepared the original IMO letter and obtain another IMO letter with a more recent date even when the reason the IMO letter has become outdated is because the VARO was slow in processing their claim?

Thanks...Georgiapapa

[Wings]

Does the VA ever consider an IMO letter submitted by a claimant to be outdated or expired after a certain period of time? Since it is not unusual for the VARO to take months and sometimes years to process a claim, IMO letters submitted by claimants may end up being months or years old by the time the IMO letter is reviewed and considered by the VARO.

Would a VARO ever require a claimant to go back to their private doctor who prepared the original IMO letter and obtain another IMO letter with a more recent date even when the reason the IMO letter has become outdated is because the VARO was slow in processing their claim?

Thanks...Georgiapapa

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Very good question! I was reading cases at the Court the other day, and remember reading about the need for the VA to have a current examination ... definately worthy of dicussion here at the board! ~Wings

[Chuck75]

If the IMO or other medical opinion, including a C&P is over a year old, it's not uncommon to see the RO order a new C&P, in order to determine the current state of the claimed condition(s). I have no personal experience in this area, since my SC'd conditions will not get any better. (P&T)

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Very good question! I was reading cases at the Court the other day, and remember reading about the need for the VA to have a current examination ... definately worthy of dicussion here at the board! ~Wings