Dr. Richard Robert Laraway, MD

I had a C & P exam today by Dr Laraway. He was very polite, professional, and thorough. He was a a gentleman. I have no doubt his assessment will be proper.

I worked with him for many years at the Fargo VA . I talked to many patients who he had insulted . He deserves negative stars not positive .

Tried to discredit my private M.D.s medical opinion and the opinion of a specialist. I had filed a FDC claim and was called in for a C&P by bad luck I was matched to this dr. In 5 minutes without examining me he told me my M.D. and specialist got it wrong. Nevermind the fact my dr had treated me for years to base her opinion on. Not only was he determined to discredit my evidence (my doctors opinion and nexus) but he also thought it was appropriate to take phone calls during the interview. Very unprofessional and sad to see our vets have people like this have input on their claims. He was to go over a dbq and that was it. However he insisted on talking about my claim and how my drs medical opinion was incorrect. I don't even think he put any time in to reading my file as I constantly had to point out what was written in it. Its this type of doctors that give the VA a bad name and cause vets to distrust the system.

Dr. Laraway worked with my father, a world war two Veteran, who had surgery at Mayo for cancer that had resurfaced after a colon section years before had removed the first cancer. He'd also had a heart valve replaced. So at the start, my father's condition required a comprehensive work-up to determine where to start. When Dad contracted West Nile Virus, Dr. Laraway helped work through the complications, which manifested with memory loss and required Long term care for an otherwise seemingly healthy man. It was very difficult to get medical personnel to focus on the recovery from the damage from West Nile, rather than write off Dad's symptoms to Alzheimers as if the West Nile Virus' damage was merely a catalyst for expected declines. Dr. Laraways counsel afforded Dad an extra year of active, interactive living in the nursing home before requiring the move to a memory care setting. He blended what care the VA could provide with Dad's Primary Care physicians and the outcome was excellent,… considering all the complications. The VA staff in Fargo was always attentive and incredibly respectful--the check in process is a system insuring everyone has a comprehensive review before the physician sees the patient...so expect a bit of time for that part of the process. Veterans are very fortunate to have Dr. Laraway practicing with the VA in Fargo, ND.