Records Retention by C&P Examiner

[Navy_Vet]

I have been told that a C&P examiner can retain only a limited amount of information.  What information may be retained and where do I find such a rule (e.g.: "M21-1 Adjudication Procedures Manual").

Thank you in advance.

[Navy_Vet]

broncovet, you are entitled to your opinion, but there is no getting around the fact that the duty to assist, which here regards C&P examinations, is unconditional after a proper and substantial claim is made and no getting around the fact that I did not violate some rule that I was never informed of, constituting good cause (, and otherwise that doesn't exist).  Has anyone heard of the rule that a claimant must divulge his/her entire medical history as a condition to being examined?  You too should be up in arms about this invasion of privacy!  Here uncooperative includes refusing to accede to the unreasonable and unlawful demands of the examiner who probably still got paid for his lack of services.  As a taxpayer I find that unnecessarily wasteful!

Bergman and Moore barreled ahead without discussing its intended actions.  How would you take it if your attorney pooh poohed the idea that no fraud took place at all because the term no-show also includes a (rightfully) uncooperative veteran?

Somehow veterans are exempt from the protection of laws that we took an oath to "support and defend" from even domestic enemies like the VA which also includes the due process protections of the Fifth Amendment which apply to VA disability claims.  10 U.S. Code Section 502.

Otherwise, I substantially completed the legal assistant (paralegal) program at a local college and I have won three (3) veterans preference cases.  So I don't appreciate you suggesting I don't know what I am talking about and otherwise I provided the legal cites that you didn't bother with.

Ever hear the phrase "deny deny until they die" because that is VA's strategy!

Edited December 23, 2023 by Navy_Vet

[Dustoff1970]

After many many cp exams I never had to give a full medical history to the examiner at all.

[Navy_Vet]

5 hours ago, Dustoff1970 said:

After many many cp exams I never had to give a full medical history to the examiner at all.

My point--which was lost on VA and BVA.

[Mark D Worthen PsyD]

Medical records retention policy - complicated topic! I'm certainly no expert, but here's what I know:

• VA has their own internal rules re: records retention. My impression when I worked for VA full-time as a C&P examiner, is that they save everything, especially since it's all electronic now. I remember reading C-files with records from the 1930s and 1940s (World War II vets mostly).
   
• I assume the MDE companies have their own record-retention policies too. They pretty much have to.
   
• I'm in private practice so I follow my state's laws regarding record retention. Most states require that we keep records for 7 years, although it varies. However, if the records might be needed after 7 years, mainly forensic psych evaluations (which includes IPEs and C&P exams), then we have to keep them longer. 

All the best,

Mark

Edited January 30 by Mark D Worthen PsyD
typo

[broncovet]

Thanks, Mark, for your great, informed opinion.  

Navy Vet.  Bergman and Moore focuses on issues which have the highest likelihood of winning Veteran's benefits (aka, retro).  And, this is not always consistent with our own ideas.  This is usually  a judgement call by the law firm, based on their years of experience.  Of course, we mostly lack their legal experience, and that is why we hired them.  

Like yourself, I was suprised that the 3 law firms I hired did not always persue the issues that I mentioned to them, and, instead, focused on issues they felt were most likely to result in additional retro for me and them.  And, yes, I was disappointed, and, further, I did not like being "wrong" about those issues.  

But, in the end I discovered that  all 3 firms..which I have named in the past, wound up winning additional benefits for me, and, they further did so at little or no cost to me (after eaja fees).  However, like you, I was upset at least a portion of the time, like yourself, when they did not persue particular issues I felt were valid.  

Looking back, Im glad I trusted their judgement, and expertise..which I paid them for.  

I also learned that Veterans law firms are pretty much "not" in the education business, teaching us by explaining all the "why they do this".  They have to justify their law fees to the CAVC or the VA, per hour, and "educating Veterans" is not billable, so they generally dont do it.  There are around 25 million Veterans, but only about 1000 or so attorneys to represent them, so most of the good ones are very very busy.  If you go in a busy resteraunt, the cook probably does not want to take time to explain how/why he cooks your meal, either.  

    My advice is to judge your law firm "by his results", not by how quick he returns your calls, by what you think he should have filed or how long he took explaining it all to you.  We do that at a resteraunt too.  We judge "how good the food was", not how good they are at explaining how they cooked it.  Many law firms are so busy it may take weeks to return non emergency calls.