Supreme Court Justices Gorsuch and Sotomayor question whether VA doctors that examine Veterans in their disability claims are always competent to provide medical opinions about a Veteran's disability. The Court decided that this case was not the right one to consider this issue, however, Justice Sotomayor wrote:
"This petition raises important questions about how the Government carries out its obligations to our veterans. The Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) applies a rebuttable presumption when reviewing veterans’ disability claims: The medical examiner whose opinion the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) relied on to deny a veteran’s claim is presumed competent, absent a specific objection by the veteran. To raise an objection, a veteran needs to know the medical examiner’s credentials. And yet, the VA does not provide veterans with that information as a matter of course."
