Dr. Ivan Enrique Monserrate, MD

I'm a veteran of two hard tours in Iraq and Afghanistan that changed my life forever. I was 100% service-connected on a variety of ailments that I've had issues with since my last days of service. Recently, I was falsely and unjustly reduced through two bad exams with Veteran Evaluation Services, a 3rd-party examiner the VA used to catch up on the pandemic backlog. I was misrepresented in my testimonies and given rushed, bad examinations that both took under ten minutes. Those two examinations have set me on a fight with the VA that has been going on for over two years. I have been on an uphill battle to prove that my ailments are still present and that I still require 100% compensation. This has ruined my life. Dr. Manserrate was assigned to me as my new provider with Yellow Team at the DC VA Hospital back in June 2022. We had an initial phone meeting in which he seemed to understand my situation, but during our second phone meeting and our only in-person meeting, he has done… everything to work against me seeking medical attention. He refuses to listen. He cuts you off and he'd rather work from his preconceived notions than your medical history and context. I asked him to take a look at my medical paperwork that I have documenting my ailments all the way back to 2017 and he refused. I asked for proper tests such as X-rays, a CT scan, an MRI, or a recommendation to meet with podiatry, since it is impossible to get scheduled with podiatry in a timely manner, and he was only concerned with having me tested for illegal drugs and Gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase testing, which is used to detect heavy alcohol use. I am a medical cannabis patient but I haven't had access to medical marijuana in years. My tests of course came back negative. I'm not a drug-seeker, I'm just a veteran that's going through physical, mental and financial hell. My phone and physical appointments were scheduled months apart, wasting valuable time that I already can't afford since I am going through financial, physical and mental struggle. Total nightmare. If you are assigned to this doctor, do what you can to be switched to another provider team since he is the current supervisor of Yellow Team. I've been trying to switch providers for months through patient advocacy and instead of listening to me and sending me to Orange Team, which I've heard good things about, they went with Dr. Manserrate's recommendation to transfer me to Prince George County's VA Clinic, which he knows doesn't have radiology, podiatry, or anything I need to prove my service-connected ailments are still present and in need medical attention. He's doing everything he can to hurt my case and my life instead of helping. I'm currently seeking representation and looking to register with the Baltimore VA medical Center since I can't receive from the VA Hospital that is closest to me. Do not go to this doctor. He has been in the field for more than 30 years, but like many doctors in the VA, he is overworked, possibly underpaid for his workload, and he takes out his frustrations by holding contempt for his patients. It's immature and unprofessional, especially when dealing with a situation as life-altering as mine. This is something his own staff will attest to. It's what I was told after first tried to switch providers after our second phone meeting was argumentative and unproductive.

Very impatient when he's the one running behind schedule. Abrasive and dismissive.