Expert Medical Evidence Supports Stronger Cases

All of the attorneys who practice in areas outside of the VA Benefits space (like Personal Injury, Mass Tort, Social Security, Workers’ Compensation, etc.) seem to agree that medical evidence is absolutely critical to achieving a successful outcome for their case, and the vast majority of attorneys who represent VA claimants agree.

Very rarely do we encounter Veteran clients who have been told by their well-intentioned attorney or VSO that they are not authorized to use Trajector Medical services. Out of 21 million veterans, a small handful question the legality of medical evidence documentation, and a few claim that you can get everything that Trajector Medical does for free from a non-profit VSO.

It’s interesting to note that these rare accusations seem to come only from VA representatives who clearly benefit from our Veteran clients, like you, not getting a fast resolution to the VA Benefits you deserve. VA attorneys can only charge fees after you’ve been initially denied your claim by the VA, and they get paid a percentage of your back pay when you finally win—so they have an interest in you not winning right away because their fees increase every month you have to wait for your appeal to win.

The big three VSOs have partnered with large VA law firms and receive substantial support in exchange for referring their denied Veterans to for-profit law firms that earn tens of millions in fees for working those appeals.

Even though these legal concerns about Trajector Medical are statistically extremely rare, we want to share the facts about the legality of engaging with someone to help document your medical evidence in support of your VA claim:

• The 14th Amendment to the Constitution protects Americans’ right to due process and allows you to present medical evidence in your legal case.
• Many additional federal laws have been implemented to require the VA to consider private medical evidence:
  • 38 U.S.C. §5107(b): Requires the VA to accept all medical evidence when determining VA claims (passed to address the VA’s historical pattern of only considering what their paid doctors say about your disability and their pattern of ignoring private medical evidence).
  • 38 U.S.C. §5125: Requires the VA to accept medical reports from private healthcare professionals.
  • 38 C.F.R. §3.159(a)(1): Defines “competent medical evidence” and emphasizes the training and expertise of healthcare providers in assessing its weight.
  • 38 U.S.C. §5101(d)(1)(A): Mandates that the VA provide Disability Benefits Questionnaire forms on its website for use by private medical professionals.
• Senior VA staff and other government representatives have affirmed before Congress that submitting private medical evidence is fully legal and supported by VA guidelines.