IMO/IME QUESTION

[Galen Rogers]

Hello all. I read through many, many of the posts on IMOs/IMEs but have a question I did not see an answer to. I will be submitting a NOD  on the ratings given for my knees and the denial on my lower back. Luckily there are some IME doctors within about a 100 mile radius I can drive to here in Northern VA. One of them is very close but he is a Chiropractor. He has an impressive list of certifications. My question - is it better to go to a full fledge MD or will a Chiropractor's IME and opinion carry as much weight?  

[jbasser]

You need an IME from a Doctor that is experiences in the field of practice for orthopedics.

 

[GeekySquid]

On 12/1/2018 at 8:06 AM, Galen Rogers said:

One of them is very close but he is a Chiropractor. He has an impressive list of certifications

This depends on whether he is a Doctor of Chiropractic medicine or just a Chiropractor.

The use of the word Doctor can cause some confusion in different contexts. A PhD in Social Work earns the title Doctor as a sign of respect but they are not necessarily an MD.

One simple way to tell is that all MD's can prescribe medication on their own. If they need a supervising MD to approve scripts then they are not an MD themselves.

If your guy is a DC then his creds are fine, if not then you want to get an MD's opinion in most cases, possibly a DO?

 

Edited December 2, 2018 by GeekySquid

[Oceanbound]

Look for a orthopedic surgeon DO. Which would allow you to stick with one specialist for both your knees and spine. Go see the chiropractor once a month for the IME, after 6 months, go see the orthopedic surgeon DO. The DO then can give you a heavily weighted and solid opinion off of the physical exams from the chiropractor that has been seeing you for 6 months doing all the foundation (dirty but necessary) work.  This is what I have done.

Think of it as writing a 5 pages essay. You know the ending. The chiropractor and you can get the rough draft out of the way, then move on to the DO, where the DO can polish it, until it turns into the final, and then publish it. Sit and wait until it does a Mike Tyson TKO to the VA at the BVA.  

You will have time to complete this as you have to wait for the appeal process.

The VA will be hard pressed (and lose once the BVA sees that) with their Doctor who (no pun intended to Dr. Who of Gallifrey) graduated from the University of Youtube with a medical degree in Geocities.

Don't forget to file a compliant with the Whitehouse VA hotline against the VA C & P examiner and your local Region Office rater since both "development to deny" for their ten cent bonus.