1151 Claim (VA Medical Malpractice) | 38 U.S.C. § 1151 | Military Disability Nexus
Board-certified physician forensic review of your VA records and a signed Independent Medical Opinion establishing negligence and causation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151. Not a template letter. A medical case analysis that names the standard of care, shows where the VA fell short, and proves the harm followed from it.
What is a 1151 Claim (VA Medical Malpractice) | 38 U.S.C. § 1151 | Military Disability Nexus?
A VA 1151 claim is a request for disability compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 when VA medical care, surgery, hospitalization, or VA-sponsored vocational rehabilitation caused a new injury or made an existing condition worse. It is a VA benefits claim, not a lawsuit. If granted, the disability is compensated exactly as if it were service connected, at whatever rating the VA assigns, and can open eligibility for SMC, Aid & Attendance, and TDIU. Winning requires competent medical evidence of two things: a breach of the standard of care and proximate cause. Military Disability Nexus provides board-certified physician forensic record reviews and signed Independent Medical Opinions addressing both elements, with honest case screening before you pay.
Overview
A Bad Outcome Is Not Enough. The Question Is Negligence.
The VA does not pay 1151 claims because something went wrong. It pays them when someone was negligent and that negligence caused harm. Those are different things, and the difference is medical. Every surgery has known complications. A complication that was disclosed and competently managed does not qualify, no matter how bad the outcome felt. What qualifies is carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, an error in judgment, or an event nobody could reasonably have foreseen.
Why the VA's Own Exam Usually Is Not Enough
Here is the structural problem. The examiner the VA assigns to your claim is being asked to judge whether a fellow VA provider was negligent. Those opinions tend to land in the VA's favor. Most 1151 denials cite the same gap: no competent medical evidence of negligence or causation. An independent physician opinion is usually what closes it.
What You Must Prove
1. Breach of the standard of care. The provider did something a reasonably competent provider would not have done, or failed to do something a competent provider would have. Our opinion first defines what competent care looked like for your situation, then documents from the records and clinical guidelines exactly where the VA's care fell short.
2. Proximate cause. The breach caused the harm. Not your underlying disease. Not a known complication that was handled correctly. The opinion builds the causal chain step by step, weighs the alternative explanations the VA will raise, and states its conclusion under the "at least as likely as not" standard. An opinion that ignores the obvious rebuttal invites the VA to write it for you.
Common Types of VA Medical Negligence
Surgical errors such as wrong-site surgery, retained instruments, or nerve damage. Delayed or missed diagnosis, with cancer the most common pattern. Medication errors and harmful interactions. Anesthesia complications. Hospital-acquired infections. Abnormal test results nobody followed up on. Procedures performed without properly informed consent.
Statute of Limitations: 1151 vs. FTCA
No strict deadline applies to the 1151 claim itself. Veterans file years after the injury. But back pay generally runs from your filing date, so every month you wait is compensation lost.
An FTCA lawsuit is a different track: a civil case in federal court seeking one-time damages, with a strict two-year deadline from when you knew or reasonably should have known about the injury. The 1151 claim pays monthly compensation as if service connected and can open SMC, Aid and Attendance, and TDIU eligibility. You can pursue both at the same time, though an FTCA recovery may offset 1151 payments until it is recouped. If your injury is recent, the FTCA clock is already running. Talk to a VA-accredited attorney promptly, even while the medical evidence is being built.
How It Works
1. Submit your information and select "1151 Claim." A family member can submit on your behalf.
2. Upload your VA records. We help you identify what is missing and how to request it.
3. A clinician screens the case first. If the records do not support negligence, we tell you before you pay for the full review.
4. A board-certified physician conducts the forensic review and signs an IMO addressing standard of care and proximate cause. Delivered in 10 to 14 business days, expedited review available.
The VA pays from the effective date forward. Filing sooner protects back pay, and an Intent to File preserves your date while the evidence is being built.
Already denied? A physician opinion answering the specific reasons in your decision letter qualifies as new and relevant evidence for a Supplemental Claim. Book a free call and we will review your denial letter.
While no medical opinion can guarantee a specific VA outcome, our mission is to ensure your documentation is clear, credible, and professionally prepared, giving your claim the best possible foundation for success.
While no medical opinion can guarantee a specific VA outcome, our mission is to ensure your documentation is clear, credible, and professionally prepared — giving your claim the best possible foundation for success.
What's Included
Full forensic review of the VA records surrounding the event: operative reports, anesthesia records, nursing notes, imaging, labs, medication administration records, and consent forms
Physician-signed Independent Medical Opinion identifying the applicable standard of care, documenting the breach against records and clinical guidelines, and building the causation chain step by step, with medical literature citations
Honest pre-review screening, identification of missing records, and a review your attorney can also use to evaluate FTCA viability
Frequently Asked Questions
A claim for VA disability compensation under 38 U.S.C. § 1151 when VA medical care, surgery, hospitalization, or VA-sponsored vocational rehab caused a new injury or made an existing condition worse. It is not a lawsuit. If granted, the disability pays exactly as if it were service connected.
Two things. The care fell below the standard of care, meaning carelessness, negligence, lack of proper skill, or an error a competent provider would not have made. And that failure directly caused your injury or worsening. There is also an alternative route: an event that was not reasonably foreseeable. All of these are medical questions, which is why the claim usually stands or falls on an independent physician opinion.
No strict deadline for the VA benefits claim. Veterans file years after the injury. But back pay generally runs from your filing date, so waiting costs money. An FTCA lawsuit is different: strict two-year deadline from when you knew or should have known about the injury.
The 1151 claim is decided by the VA and pays monthly compensation as if service connected. The FTCA lawsuit is a federal court case seeking one-time damages. Different deadlines, different standards, different payouts. You can pursue both, though an FTCA recovery may offset 1151 payments until it is recouped.
Surgical mistakes like wrong-site surgery, retained instruments, or nerve damage. Delayed or missed diagnoses, with cancer the most common. Medication errors and harmful interactions. Anesthesia complications. Hospital-acquired infections. Abnormal test results nobody acted on. Procedures done without properly informed consent.
Yes, and it is one of the most common 1151 fact patterns. The opinion has to establish when the diagnosis should have been made based on the findings already in the record, and how the delay changed the stage, the treatment options, or the prognosis. That staging analysis carries the claim.
No. Medicine has known complications, and a complication that was disclosed and competently managed does not qualify. The claim has to show negligence or an unforeseeable event. Separating a true breach from an accepted complication is exactly what the independent opinion analyzes.
The VA's examiner is being asked to judge whether a fellow VA provider was negligent. Those opinions tend to favor the VA, and most 1151 denials cite the same gap: no competent medical evidence of negligence or causation. An independent physician review closes that gap or tells you honestly that it cannot be closed.
The same monthly compensation as a service-connected condition at the rating the VA assigns, paid from your effective date forward. Severe 1151 disabilities can also open Special Monthly Compensation, Aid & Attendance, and TDIU eligibility. Dependents may qualify for DIC if a veteran dies from VA care.
The complete VA records around the event. Operative notes, anesthesia records, nursing notes, imaging, labs, medication administration records, consent forms, discharge summaries, and the later records showing the injury or worsening. We help you identify what is missing before the physician review starts.
Our clinicians screen the records first. If they do not support negligence or the causation chain does not hold, we tell you why instead of selling you an opinion the VA will pick apart. An unsupported opinion helps no one and can hurt your credibility on appeal.
You can file without one, but 1151 claims are among the most complex cases in the VA system, and accredited representation helps, especially on appeal or when an FTCA lawsuit is also in play. Through our Attorney & Advocate Partnership, the attorney handles legal strategy and we supply the medical evidence.
A physician opinion that answers the specific reasons in your decision letter qualifies as new and relevant evidence for a Supplemental Claim. Book a free call and we will review your denial letter.
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