Jim,

I have filed a claim under 1151, the doctor who has caused this claim to be filed due to his arrogance, it turned out was the doctor assigned to due the C&P examine.

Yes, when my wife and I arrived for the C&P exam, we spent probably 30-45 minutes telling the exam doctor about how outraged we were due to the way I was treated or not treated, depending on how you look at it! We did not realize until after leaving the exam, while driving home and talking about how the exam went, when one of us said to the other that the doctor looked familiar. Upon arriving home, I started going through my records and sure enough, this was the same doctor! I see so many doctors at the VA, I do not recognize most of them let alone remember their names!

I was under the impression that C&P examiners were contracted outside the VA. I have talked to the head of the C&P department who at least on the phone agreed that this was totally wrong on every level.

I am so mad, of course I submitted a Notice of Disagreement, but apparently this outrageous situation was just thrown onto the pile. This NOD was filed in November and I have not heard a thing about a new C&P exam or even an acknowledgment.

I think I should file a complaint with the Oregon Medical Board, this doctor should have stepped away from this exam when he saw his name on the records but instead he completed the C&P and made statements to cover his ass that were totally bogus! His lies and lack of integrity has cost me years in the process of getting this claim judged on factual information. I believe he deserves a black mark and even being fired from the VA staff for his actions.

I now wonder how many other vet's have been subjected to this and not realize it?

Anyway, sorry for the length of this email but I believe this is a serious problem. What do you think?

Reply:

The VA can assign any doctor that works for them to do your C & P exam. There isn't anything illegal about that. While most C & P exams are done by a contract physician, these days the VA is requiring many of their employed physicians to do that task.

You can't complain to a state medical board about a VA doctor. The VA is a federal entity and the doctors who work for the VA may be licensed in any state. If you're in Oregeon the doctor may be licensed in New York and Oregon won't have any way to question how he practices medicine.

If you didn't recognize the doctor, I doubt that the doctor recognized you. I can't imagine all the details of what you may have told him but if you spent 45 minutes telling him details about your poor treatment, he must have been a good listener. That his name was in the record isn't a reason for him to disqualify himself. This isn't like a court room on TV where a judge should recuse if he has personal knowledge or some connection to a case.

To file an 1151 claim is pretty serious business. That's a remedy that should be used when a physician or some other VA health treatment has caused you lasting harm. If you file an 1151 because you disagreed with the C & P report, you've probably just wasted a lot of your time. The time to argue about a C & P examination is when you get a denial of a claim, not before. Filing a NOD isn't the appropriate remedy either...not unless and until you have a denial letter in hand.

Your paperwork filed in November 2012 probably won't be looked at until November 2013 or even November 2014. The VA is trapped in a backlog situation that is causing all paperwork to be delayed by months or even years. They'll get to it eventually.

There isn't much you can do now but wait.