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Qpinion From Va Dr?

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Billyboy

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Billyboy

Yes, I just got two opinions from my primary care doctor to back up my claims for secondary conditions to DMII. I think it is a good idea. Not that the VA won't go against their own doctors, but they can't say you are doctor shopping, and all the records are right there at the VAMC. They can't lose your medical records. It would help to have a specialist do an IMO for you, but the VA will often use the opinion of an 80 year old GP to shoot down the opinion of a board certified private doctor. When the VA doctor states an opinion the VA has to impeach their own medical staff to deny you.

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  • HadIt.com Elder

Billyboy,

I asked my primary care doctor to write an opinion if the disease that I had been treated for at the VA for 20+ years was the same as a disease I was diagnosed with in the military. There is a directive that primary care doctors are supposed to write letter when asked. It is best to take them the nexus form. I told the doctor I need a letter for adjudication. The idiot doctor never even looked at my SMR and told me that I was mis diagnosed in the military and would not write a letter. The idiot doctor obviously did not want to get involved. I notified the RO immediately that my primary doctor rebutted the diagnosis made by military doctors based on speculation and no medical eveidence to support the new diagnosis. I demanded that they schedule a C&p which they never did.

Later I went to another hospital and the customer care folks told me that I need to get a letter from the head of immunology. I went to the clinic and the head of the department was very willing to get involved. He read the SMR and some post service treatment reports and wrote a note in my file as to his opinion. They will not usually give you a letter. They just write the note in the file then you get a copy of the note and send it to the RO. The letter that was written by the head of immunology was a slam dunk that was denied again by some idiot rater and later the same letter was cited by a DRO for service connection. I never had a C&P exam.

Long story short is that you can ask but who knows what they will do.

Edited by Hoppy
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I've only submitted 1 IMO for my multiple claims. Everything else has been through VA doctors.

Up until (I think) September 2005, there was VHA Directive 2000-029 that authorized VA docs to write

medical opinions for vet claimants. I have heard, but not been able to verify, that this directive has been

extended past 9/2005.

I did all the research, reviewed my medical records and wrote sample letters for each doc. Gotta use the

right medical terminology. Each MD read the letter(s) and was willing to discuss them with me. In 2 cases,

they added to my writeup and corrected some errors, making the opinions even stronger than I wrote.

I would never ignore your VA docs, particularly if you've cultivated good relations with them.

Ralph

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