Violation Of Federal Law

[vern2]

What federal law is being violated when a VA C & P doctor admits that he has not read or reviewed yor c-file PRIOR to your appointment. I have read that this a frequent violation of federal law, but which law? Tried to do a boolean search in 38 CFR, but could not find it.

hamster man

[Philip Rogers]

All of these regulations are within M21-1MR which can be googled and there are links to M21-1M here as well.

Navy04 is right. A C & P exam can be challenged on that basis ( lack of C file) and I did that myself for my husband long ago.

I gave a witness statement because I sat in an adjoining room during a PTSD exam he had and I heard employees looking all over for his C file.The exam took place at a different VA than he worked at, and the doctor even asked him if he had his C file with him, but did not note any of this in his exam. There was more to it than that however, and I called the VA examiner to complain as well. He got a new C & P exam.

To my knowledge there is no requirement that the c-file be present. I believe the VA also states this somewhere. However, shortly after someone appealed, their claim, based on the c-file not being present, at the C&P exam, the VA ordered all C&P examiners to start the C&P exam by stating "I have reviewed your c-file" and then continuing with the exam.

pr

[johnjjr]

At my last C&P, I had a vet friendly doc. She told me up front that she didn't have my c file. Skeptical as to how that would affect the exam, I went to the FOI office 2 weeks later and got a copy. The first question pertained to her reviewing my c file, to which she answered, 'No, the veteran's c file was not delivered to this facility in a timely manner'. She then used copies of medical records I had taken with me as a basis for the exam. As others have mentioned, make copies of records pertinent to your claim and take them with you. never know when they might be useful.

[vern2]

At my last C&P, I had a vet friendly doc. She told me up front that she didn't have my c file. Skeptical as to how that would affect the exam, I went to the FOI office 2 weeks later and got a copy. The first question pertained to her reviewing my c file, to which she answered, 'No, the veteran's c file was not delivered to this facility in a timely manner'. She then used copies of medical records I had taken with me as a basis for the exam. As others have mentioned, make copies of records pertinent to your claim and take them with you. never know when they might be useful.

I tried this at my last C & P exam, as knew going in that my c-file was incomplete due to me submitting documentation via VBMS. I tried to show the doctor my other medical evidence, but he declined to even look at it. You were lucky to get the examiner to state that c-file had not been delivered in timely manner. Noticed also that my 20 pound c-file was not what the doctor had, he had maybe 2 inches of records, not the complete record.

[kellisanders]

This really is a violation of the prescribed rules. c-file PRIOR must be reviewed before being admitted, I couldn't find 38 CFR either, no useful source is available in this regard.