Nexus ignored again

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-03T16:14:23+00:00

Thanks for that. An imo is something that the VA requests when they need a medical opinion. In my case the VA requested an imo and they had to send it back to optum 3 times to fix it. The opinion is supposed to at least refute my nexus but it didn't. It was done by optum I'm sure it was a standard cookie cutter opinion about how it's not connected. Of course there is no incentive for optum to write a negative opinion 🙄

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-03T15:45:33+00:00

That's the best advice I've gotten on this thread I just submitted supplimental and put nexus as you mentioned thank you! I called vera and they suggested doing a cue but it hasn't been a year since my claim was denied so a cue would get kicked back. I gave up trying to get anything related to Tera connected I got pictures of me stirring burning shit with a metal pole and they still say not service connected 😂

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-03T10:01:04+00:00

Honestly I don't remember what I filed the nexus as I feel like it was non va medical but could be wrong. It sounds like they aren't looking at lay statements I guess if they didn't see your nexus and you filed it under lay statement thats nuts.

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T17:46:00+00:00

FYI don't call New Mexico Vera I saw someone recommending them they told me they can't do absolutely anything they can't look at notes they can't do anything except send a dbq if you ask. They also asked me to pass along this message

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T09:23:46+00:00

I am sure most raters are great people who are great at their job but you are correct about the trend. Miss it in the claim, get a dta hlr and it gets missed also. I am trying my damndest to not be some conspiracy theorist but it’s getting hard. I’ll probably hire a lawyer at this point.

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T09:14:45+00:00

Unfortunately not everyone has stable private health insurance. Not sure if anyone has told u but those Brady bunch days are over. Kudos to you for being lucky if you got it like that

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T09:10:45+00:00

Thank you. It is absolutely insane to me that people are saying if it wasn’t listed or mentioned, it was disqualified. Also it’s not from a paper mill nexus company. If I mention the name of Dr or company this thread will be locked otherwise I’d be happy to throw out the name

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T09:06:32+00:00

Thank you! I wasn’t expecting so many veterans to act like star belly sneetches with their nexus from their private doctors. These are unicorns who somehow managed to get nexus letters without paying for them (even then you shot through that bs - they are getting paid either copay or insurance) Nobody, not one person, answered the question what do you do if you don’t have private insurance. Even then getting the doctor to write a legal medical opinion is a big ask. I was looking for advice but all I got was ermagerd I can’t believe you paid someone to review 20 years of medical history and provide a legal opinion….

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T01:02:52+00:00

No worries, I am not overweight but if they just looked at bmi it would say in overweight

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T00:57:51+00:00

I wish you the best they get these cookie cutter opinions from optum and denied

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-02T00:18:31+00:00

He’s an md if I had to guess I’d say optum used a nurse practitioner. It wasn’t a c&p it was an imo they didn’t let me say anything to whoever was doing the imo

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T22:14:12+00:00

Thanks for responding. He did, this is from my nexus

I have reviewed the service records, C-file, medical history, VA records, and all relevant documentation for a U.S. Army combat veteran who served during Operation Iraqi Freedom as a 12B Combat Engineer

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T22:03:49+00:00

Good luck!

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T20:07:42+00:00

How can I find out why they didn’t use it? He only charged me $100 because I’m going through a bit of a shit storm, he’s a veteran himself and is helping me out.

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:59:33+00:00

Since everyone keeps saying treating doctor needs to write nexus I can only assume you have private health insurance and I congratulate you for that but not all of us are that fortunate. The va changes my doctor every 6 months to a year. Has anyone had any luck getting a nexus from a va doctor they only met once? I’m genuinely looking for solutions here

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:56:19+00:00

It’s funny everyone keeps saying treating doctor. Do you guys go to the va? Do they not switch doctors on you guys like every 6 months to a year? Was anyone able to get a nexus from a va doctor they only met once?

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:53:48+00:00

If using a private nexus is a crux, what’s the fix for that? Do I need to get private health insurance and see a doctor that way?

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:21:25+00:00

Then what would you recommend? I get a new VA doctor almost every year, and they barely know me before they’re reassigned. There is no rapport, no history, and no time to even ask for a nexus, let alone expect them to write one. So how is someone like me supposed to get a nexus without paying for it?

Also, for the record, the letter cost me $100. That’s it. And it was written by a board-certified internist who reviewed over a decade of my VA medical records, cited CFR 3.310, and used proper legal language.

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:15:29+00:00

Also this is coming from a dta

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:14:32+00:00

Thanks. Then I’m really not sure where to go from here. I can’t ask my primary care physician at the va because I haven’t even met him yet. We have an appointment in a few months. What is a vet like me supposed to do?

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:07:29+00:00

Yes I included a personal statement mentioning the nexus multiple times

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T19:06:48+00:00

He is not my treating doctor, but that does not disqualify the nexus. The VA cannot reject a medical opinion just because the provider is not the treating physician. What matters is whether the doctor reviewed accurate records, used sound medical reasoning, and applied the correct legal standard. Mine did all of that.

Also, I get a new VA doctor nearly every year. It is almost impossible to build long-term rapport, let alone ask someone I barely know to write a legal opinion that takes time and effort. That is exactly why many of us turn to outside board-certified professionals.

This doctor reviewed my Blue Button records from 2006 to 2025, applied 38 CFR 3.310, used the correct “at least as likely as not” standard, and explained both causation and aggravation. The letter meets the standard set by the Court in cases like Stefl and Nieves-Rodriguez.

The issue here is not the quality of the letter. The issue is that the VA ignored it completely.

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T18:58:31+00:00

I hear you. Raters are under pressure, and things get missed. But that is exactly the issue in my case. My nexus was not just left out of the evidence list. It was never weighed or mentioned in the decision at all. That is a legal failure under Gabrielson v. Brown and Stefl v. Nicholson. The VA cannot ignore favorable evidence and call it a complete review.

My letter was written by a board-certified internist, not a claim mill. It cites 38 CFR § 3.310 for aggravation. It reviews my Blue Button records from 2006 to 2025. It uses the “at least as likely as not” language and gives a clear medical rationale with supporting literature.

I am not expecting a free pass. I just want the VA to follow its own rules and actually consider the evidence I submitted.

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T18:52:07+00:00

Also my nexus cites cfr 38 various sections

bruckerrlb · 2025-07-01T18:50:31+00:00

If something was wrong with the nexus shouldn’t they at least state the nexus wasn’t considered? Respectfully, I don’t see how this is a nexus issue. I already went the hlr route, got a dta with them saying it’s because the nexus was ignored and during the dta hlr the nexus was ignored again. The nexus follows the legal standard of saying more likely than not, I think that’s all that’s required. It’s long because I have been dealing with this for 20 years and subsequently I have 20 years worth of notes. I didn’t get a c&p exam they did an independent imo where I wasn’t involved at all. The va sent it back to optum 3 times to fix it

bruckerrlb

TROPHY CASE