VA disability medical opinions and record review for attorneys.
Robert Townsend, DO provides physician-led nexus opinions, C&P opinion review, and forensic medical record analysis for law firms handling complex VA disability claims and appeals.
Medical review across the difficult parts of a VA disability file.
The assignment is defined by counsel. Valor focuses on the medical questions that remain genuinely disputed.
Nexus & Causation
Direct service connection, cumulative loading, toxic exposure, secondary causation, secondary aggravation, and causal-chain analysis with competing causes addressed.
VA medical nexus opinions →C&P Opinion Review
Test the factual foundation, chronology, diagnosis, mechanism, literature, and whether the examiner actually answered the medical question.
C&P opinion review →Forensic Medical Record Review
Complete-file reconstruction across service records, VA and private care, imaging, DBQs, rating decisions, lay evidence, and intervening events.
Comprehensive record review →Rating & Severity
Objective findings, flare behavior, treatment burden, functional loss, and the medically supportable severity picture - while leaving final rating assignment to VA.
Rating & severity analysis →Employability / TDIU
Physical versus sedentary demands, attendance, safety, persistence, positional tolerance, accommodations, and the medical limits of the opinion.
Employability medical opinions →Evidence Development
When the current record cannot responsibly answer the question, Valor identifies the missing test, record, examination, lay evidence, or specialty evaluation instead of speculating.
Evidence-gap review →From medical question to signed opinion.
Send the question first, without Veteran identifiers or records. Scope, fee, deadline, and transfer method are confirmed before the file moves.
Evaluate the reasoning before sending a case.
The fictional Daniel R. Mercer composite shows source reconciliation, direct nexus, secondary aggravation, contrary evidence, an unresolved issue, and limits on severity and work-capacity conclusions.
Daniel R. Mercer — Representative Nexus Opinion
One fictional case combines methods drawn from deidentified work. It is an educational sample, not a report for filing.
Read the Composite OpinionYou should be able to see how the physician thinks before you send a case.
A curated physician-written library shows how Valor handles the questions that separate useful medical analysis from a purchased conclusion, using focused articles on causation, record review, lay history, severity, work capacity, and evidentiary limits.
Direct, Secondary, or Aggravation?
Choose the pathway that best fits the chronology instead of stacking every favorable theory.
When a Normal Examination Is Not the Whole Story
Treat the normal finding as evidence, then ask whether it represents function over time.
How Should a Physician Use Lay Evidence?
Use what the witness can actually observe without turning history into diagnosis or causation.
When Is It Essential to Talk to the Patient?
Interview only when the record leaves a material fact the Veteran is competent to report.
A Diagnosis Is Not a Disability Rating
Separate the disease label from severity, function, and the measurements that actually support a level.
From Medical Impairment to Work Capacity
Translate symptoms into reliable, repeated, sustainable, and safe performance across a workday.
Robert Townsend, DO
Michigan physician and owner of Valor Consulting, PLLC in Clare. Dr. Townsend brings more than 25 years of clinical experience, former independent contract VA C&P examination work, and service as an Army medic and Medical Service Corps officer to attorney-directed medical review.
He has performed more than 100 VA evaluations and record reviews annually since 2022. His Internal Medicine background informs the review of complex, multisystem files; questions beyond that scope are identified for further development or specialty review.
The record controls the answer.
Valor addresses findings that help and hurt a proposed theory. An opinion can be favorable, unfavorable, mixed, or unresolved. Counsel can correct facts and completeness; the medical conclusion remains Dr. Townsend's.
A limited referral pathway.
As capacity permits, Valor reserves pro bono physician-review work for referrals through accredited VSOs and approved Veterans organizations. Direct claimant intake is not available.
Know the terms before sending the record.
What does an engagement cost?
Standard engagements begin at $750 for a defined medical question within ordinary scope. Large, incomplete, multi-condition, specialty-dependent, or expedited assignments are scoped before acceptance. Firm-specific arrangements are confirmed directly.
How quickly can a report be completed?
A defined, complete, straightforward assignment can often be completed in approximately three business days after acceptance. The deadline is confirmed for each case; Veteran contact, missing records, and case complexity can affect timing.
What does counsel receive?
Ordinarily: physician review and a records-reviewed statement, chronology when material, individualized analysis and relevant literature, discussion of contrary evidence and competing causes, a direct answer, and a signed opinion with CV and invoice. One counsel check for factual accuracy and completeness is included.
How are records transmitted?
Do not send PHI through the public inquiry form or ordinary email. After contact, Valor agrees on a transfer method with the firm; PageAI or Dropbox is ordinarily preferred where the firm's requirements allow it.
Start with the medical question.
This form is for attorneys and law firms introducing their practice or a potential assignment. Do not send a C-file, medical records, Veteran identifiers, or other PHI through the public website or ordinary email.