Updated DBQs on the VA website

[Al329]

Don't know if this has been posted.

DBQs back....

https://www.benefits.va.gov/compensation/dbq_publicdbqs.asp

 

 

[brokensoldier244th]

No, the c and p doctors job isn't to treat, they are there to confirm prior dx opinion, and opine on service connection, and it would be stupid expensive too have two versions of forms.

Some private providers screw up the dbqs anyway, and dont write well formed opinions that are adequate, and wouldn't knows service connected or not if it bit them. They also cant see your VA file no matter how many check that box- unless you bring in your STRs and or omp to back up what you are telling them they have no ideas. They are forming a subjective opinion based mostly on what you tell them. The CP doctor does have access to all that which is why their opinion is treated as more probative in a lot of cases unless your private doc is a specialist or anything in that area. 

The opinion for SC has a legal requirement to be more than a simple paragraph that says " yup, sure is..." and a few articles off web MD which is what I see attached least a few times a week. 

Edited March 5, 2021 by brokensoldier244th

[Fat]

Great point AI329.....

[pacmanx1]

File an appeal and let your claim go to BVA.

Use the Benefit of Doubt to win your claim. 

When after consideration of all evidence and material of record in a case before the Department with respect to benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, there is an approximate balance of positive and negative evidence regarding merits of an issue material to the determination of the matter, the benefit of the doubt in resolving each such issue shall be given to the claimant.” 38 U.S.C.A. § 5107(b) (West 1995).

When the evidence is in equipoise, not when the evidence weighs either in favor or against the claimant.

Gilbert v. Derwinski 1 vet. app. 49 (1990)

 M21-1, Part III, Subpart iv, Chapter 5

[Al329]

Brokensoldier,  I get what you are saying. And I understand and appreciate all your points...really its a great help!

One question on what you are saying.  You mentioned looking up doctors and see if they are on the web selling DBQs and whatnot. 

Also that some docs screw up DBQs.   Ok get all that. But if you want a doc to not screw up a DBQ ... and you want to file a fully developed claim...  Don't we, as the Vet, have to find a doc online that knows how to fill out the DBQ? 

Its not doctor shopping... its shopping for someone who can write up the DBQ correctly. They, as a doctor, are still signing their name putting their license on the line. Is that not weighted the same as a the DBQ written by the VA or the contract doc?

 

Thanks!

 

 

 

[brokensoldier244th]

The difference is between finding a doc that knows how to fill out a DBQ and one that rubber stamps whatever you put on there and charges you a shit ton of money to do so. It's more of an ethical thing, but when the rater looks at a DBQ that gives a veteran the moon, but the medical data from their VA provider(s) and/or other private providers doesn't support it, and that same doctor submits hundreds more dbq exams a year than there are days in a year, something doesn't add up.

So, no, not every doctors DBQ weighs the same after scrutiny. They are all accepted equally, but that doesn't mean that the data and findings they contain are always in line with what the other evidence says, and there are some doctors/doctor's offices that do this much more than others. The DBQs are pretty straight forward- you can read them and see that. The part that a lot of private providers mess up on is not using the remarks section, and not submitting a well grounded opinion on the DBQ or separate from it. The DBQ for most body systems is only a diagnostic.

There are a few DBQs that have the opinion baked into them (Hearing/Tinnitus is one of them, for example- scroll part way down and you'll see it) but for most of the rest unless the remarks section is really detailed there isn't enough room. The doctor can't just write that he thinks its service connected, he has to write why. It doesn't need 20 pages of case notes or whatever, but it does need to summarize the diagnostic and explain why they think that way. The raters are not doctors- they apply federal law and VA regulations to the DBQ and other evidence. They can't surmise a diagnosis. If the doctor isn't straighforward in explaining what you have and why it may be insufficient for rating. That's why vets get sent to exams that "they have already had", usually. 

 

You can read all about it here: 21-1 III.iv.3.A Examination Requests Overview

 

[Al329]

Ok ... thanks for the explanation!