What to do if I get a bad C&P Exam?

FOR THE VETERAN OF THE VETERAN SHARE OF THE DAY

Have you had a bad C&P exam? Maybe you were not prepared, or perhaps you had a bad C&P examiner. Whatever the reason there are some steps you can take to minimize the stress and anxiety of thinking, “this is it, it is over!”

The exam can affect the final outcome of my claim; however, the bottom line is you must be prepared, and you must arm yourself with the right information to have a successful exam. If your review does not go well, fight back and take action to protect yourself!

What is a C&P exam?
A C&P exam is short for compensation and pension exam or, a medical opinion. To be eligible for disability compensation under the law you must have 3 things.

A medical diagnosis.
Your disability must have been caused or made worse by your active military service (Nexus).
You must have persistent and recurring symptoms.
After you file your claim, depending on what disabilities you are claiming, you’ll be contacted by the VA and scheduled for one or more C&P exams. The exam will either be conducted by a VA doctor or by a doctor contracted out from the VA.


The purpose of your C&P exam is used to evaluate your condition by an independent doctor to confirm the validity of your claim. Most VA denials are based off these reports because of the weight it carries in your claim.

How can you receive a copy of your C&P exam?
Login to User Login – My HealtheVet or make an outpatient medical records request
Get a complete copy of your C-File (Your VA Claims File)
Make a written request to the VA regional office (VARO) in your State

What do you do if you get a bad C&P exam?
Immediately call [login to see] , speak to a representative from the VA, complain, and ask him/her to make a note in your record
Write a memorandum of record (MFR) and upload it to ebenefits immediately (stick to the facts: Who, what, when, where, why, how)
Consider writing your State Congressman
Let’s focus on the information you will need to include when composing the Memorandum of Record. It needs to be very direct and to the point.

Start with your information; include your condition you are being evaluated for. Include the time, date and name of the C&P examiner who conducted the exam.

In the body of the text, you will want to keep it straight, and to the point, you can present it in a bulleted list format to keep the information organized. List all of the areas you feel could have been handled differently and better. This can include; demeanor, facial expressions, dismissiveness, topics that were not pertaining to your condition, length of time, the preparedness of the examiner, reviewing of the documents you have provided for review, etc.

Once again, be specific and to the point. Close the report with a request, be polite and accurate as to what you would like the end result to be. You can request a new exam, you can request the DBQ and/or Nexus be used in place of the exam for the VA Rater to take into account instead, or ask that this exam be thrown out.

Remember it is our duty to fight back if we have a bad C&P examiner/examination not just for yourself, but for the other Veterans who may see this individual.

To see a more in-depth look at this topic, please visit the full YouTube video on the Brian Reese page.

If you found this useful and would like to see other valuable topics to do with your VA claim process visit our website.

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