EDUCATION
Master of Science in Nursing, Indiana State University. Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Indiana State University.
WHO WRITES IT
David Protaziuk, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Board-certified family nurse practitioner. Three years as a VA compensation and pension examiner. Founder of Veteran Medical Opinions, an independent medical opinion practice for veterans' claims with more than 130 five-star Google reviews. Every opinion from Claimant Medical Opinions is researched, written and signed by me.
The examiner years.
A compensation and pension examination is the examination the Department of Veterans Affairs orders to decide a disability claim. For three years that was my job: thousands of examinations, each one a functional assessment against a written federal standard, documented so that a rater who would never meet the veteran could rely on it. You learn quickly what an adjudicator can use and what gets set aside: a conclusion without a basis is set aside; a measured finding with its source is used.
Social Security asks the same thing of a medical source statement. Not "is this person disabled," but "what can this person still do, and what in the record shows it." That is the question I answer.
The opinion practice.
After the examiner role I opened Veteran Medical Opinions, writing independent medical opinions and disability questionnaires for veterans and the attorneys who represent them. The practice runs on the rules I still use: read every page, decline the files the record cannot support, cite everything, sign personally. Veterans have left more than 130 five-star reviews on Google, and appeals firms send me their Board and Court cases directly.
Claimant Medical Opinions is the same practice applied to Social Security disability claims, where the shortage of written medical opinions at the hearing level is even more severe.
Veteran Medical Opinions reviews on GoogleCredentials.
CERTIFICATION
Family Nurse Practitioner, board certified by the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (FNP-C).
LICENSE
Illinois Advanced Practice Registered Nurse 277002570, full practice authority. Illinois Registered Nurse 041477696.
NPI
1275200149.
STATUS UNDER SSA RULES
Acceptable medical source for claims filed on or after March 27, 2017, 20 CFR 404.1502(a)(7).
INSURANCE
Professional liability coverage in force.
A real office.
7501 Lemont Rd, Suite 345D, Woodridge, Illinois 60517. Records are received into a HIPAA-covered Google Workspace under a business associate agreement, encrypted in transit and at rest, and no one else has access to them. Call (708) 244-2627 and you reach me.
Send the file. I will tell you within 24 hours what the record supports.
david@claimmedicalopinions.com. Or call (708) 244-2627 and you reach me, not a call center.