Challenging a finding of the military medical board

What is happening

A medical board finding decides a great deal: whether you stay in service, on what ground you are discharged, and whether you qualify for payments, a pension and veteran status. A questionable finding is therefore not a formality but the document the rest of your situation rests on.

The usual disputes are these: the board disregarded some of the medical records, the examination was rushed and lacked the necessary investigations, the diagnosis recorded is milder than the real one, and the causation wording reads ‘illness contracted during the period of military service’ rather than ‘military injury’.

The opposite also happens: a serviceman wants to continue serving and is found unfit. That is equally arguable — the fitness category must follow the state of health and the documents, not the board's general impression.

What the law says

• Military medical examination follows the regulations on military medical expert examination; the board must consider the medical records and investigation results submitted to it.
• A board finding may be challenged before a higher military medical board and also in court.
• A repeat (control) examination is carried out on referral by the higher board or by order of the court.
• A citizen is entitled to undergo an independent military medical examination, and the board must take its conclusion into account.
• The finding on fitness category and the finding on the causal link of an injury are separate conclusions; either can be challenged on its own.
• Article 219(1) of the Code of Administrative Procedure allows three months for going to court, counted from the day you learned of the finding, so delay is costly.

What we do

• We study the finding and the medical file and identify the investigations and diagnoses the board left out of account.
• We obtain the missing records and case history from hospitals and clinics.
• We prepare the complaint to the higher military medical board and press for re-examination.
• We arrange an independent military medical examination and put its conclusion on the file.
• We challenge the board finding in court, applying for court-ordered expert examination.
• We challenge, in parallel, the command decisions taken on the basis of the disputed finding.

What we need from you

• The board finding itself, or the certificate of illness, with its date and wording.
• Your medical book, hospital discharge summaries and the results of examinations and tests.
• The referral to the board and the documents you submitted to it.
• The wound certificate, the inquiry file and written reports, where an injury is involved.
• Civilian medical records: your clinic file and doctors' findings.
• Your contract, a service record certificate and extracts from orders on tasks and official travel.