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Medical professionals play a crucial role in a VA disability claim appeal. Getting a VA disability claim approved hinges on being able to show that your disability was directly caused by an event, injury, or disease from your time in the service. Understanding how this works can make it easier to provide the information they need to correctly evaluate your condition.
One of the benefits of working with the VA disability claims attorneys at West & Dunn is that we have worked on hundreds of these types of cases, so we know what evidence works and what claims often get denied. Call our firm to schedule an appointment to go over your claim or find out what you can do if you get a notice of denial.
What Role Do Medical Professionals Play in a VA Disability Appeal?
A medical professional is able to provide a thorough evaluation of your symptoms and how they affect your daily life to be able to show that they rise to the level of a medical disability. They are also qualified to provide the medical opinion as to the likelihood that the disability was caused or made worse by your time in the service. This expert medical opinion can help strengthen your claim and potentially get your denial overturned.
What Kind of Medical Evidence Can Be Helpful?
If you are planning on submitting an appeal based on new evidence, it can be helpful to know what kind of medical evidence is likely to be considered. Medical evidence can include actual medical records, such as X-rays and other imaging reports, medical test results, or doctor’s reports. Medical evidence can also include records related to mental health treatment, such as a counselor’s clinical notes.
Medical evidence that is not related to treatment at a VA medical center or with VA physicians is called private medical evidence. This type of evidence can be especially helpful for a VA disability appeal, as your private primary care provider is considered to often be more familiar with your ongoing medical history and how your condition affects your quality of life compared to someone you saw once at a clinic.
What Is a Nexus Letter?
A nexus letter is a letter from a medical professional that explains that a veteran’s disability is directly connected to their time in the service. It needs to include three specific elements. The first is which event during their time in service caused the condition. The second is a confirmation through diagnosis that the condition continues to exist presently.
The third is the doctor’s medical opinion that the two are linked. This medical opinion must be written in a specific manner that details the likelihood that the event during the time of service and the disabling condition are linked. To be approved, the letter needs to state that the event and condition are “at least as likely as not” to be linked or “more than likely” or “highly likely.”
Nexus letters often come from doctors, but it is possible to get one from any medical professional who has the qualifications to evaluate your condition. For example, if your disability is related to a mental health condition, a psychologist or psychiatrist could write the nexus letter.
How Can I Make It Easier for a Medical Professional to Help Me?
When you’re filing a VA disability appeal, you’re working as part of a team with your attorney and the medical professionals who are providing evidence on your behalf. You can make it easier for them to support you by keeping records of your symptoms, including frequency and severity, and how they affect your quality of life. Being able to explain what happened during your time of service that caused the disability can also help them better evaluate the connection.
When you work with the attorneys at West & Dunn, you get experienced legal professionals who can help you navigate submitting a VA disability claim and the appeals process, if necessary. We can help you understand how to leverage medical evidence and statements from medical professionals to help bolster your case or overturn a denial. Call 608-490-9449 today to speak with a member of our team.
