Trajector gonna get bodied in California courts man. Did any of you get scammed by trajector getting you to sign, doing nothing, and still taking backpay?
I've seen a few people post that they had a letter with "at least as likely as not" and still got denied. "at least as likely as not" isn't a magic code word. Just a statement of burden of proof.
If the letter is bunk or the medical argument is bad the VA can (and should) still challenge it.
Example - you find some random Nurse or Scam artist on TikTok selling nexus letters for ANYTHING $200 and they "write" a letter that says my degenerative disc disease in my back is caused by my PTSD because "reasons"... the VA is going to look at that and go "nope, that's not how the body works" regardless if they put the magic words "at least as likely as not"
Now... if you have a board certified Orthopedic Surgeon claim that your DDD is "but for" your already service connected flat feet due to an altered gate, with peer reviewed medical case studies showing the same, and with the burden of proof being "at least as likely as not" then the VA is going to be stuck going... "well, it's a doctor, with relevant experience, making a claim that is supported in the evidence, backed with peer reviewed case studies..."
A nexus letter is only as good as the argument and the doctor signing it.
Yes, a lay statement is good. Arguing your nexus of diagnosis and services is important and you should advocate for yourself. BIG FAN OF THE LAY STATMENT
But if you write a letter (or have AI generate you one) and it is not signed by a doctor... that is not a Nexus Letter. That is a lay statement.
An Independent Medical Opinion Letter is the full name of what a Nexus Letter is. And the most important part of that is Medical Opinion.
I used a lay statement and got denied. I pushed an HLR and the VA said the examiner, and RN, had more probative value.
Probative Value is key here. Not because I was wrong (one of the Nexus Letters I got from a Doctor that worked was almost exactly what I'd argued) but because my Medical Opinion lacked Medical Experience.
A Doctor can write a bad nexus letter. Too broad, bad logic, not a good medical argument, outside of their experience... any number of reasons.
And a layman can write a great lay statement, specific, medical case studies, sound medical argument. Absolutely.
A well written argument by a Doctor with a specialization is the most powerful element of a Nexus Letter you can have.
And unless you are a doctor you did not write a nexus letter. You wrote a lay statement.
***Sorry for the rant but it was like the 3rd time I asked someone who wrote and signed their nexus letter and they said "I did! I wrote it with chatgpt." A pellet rifle and a hunting rifle might both be rifles, but there are clear differences between them. A lay statement letter and a nexus letter may both be letters...