Disability Retirement Independent Medical Opinions
Federal Disability Retirement Medical Opinions
Medical Documentation for FERS and CSRS Disability Retirement Applications
Federal Disability Retirement IMOs
When health problems begin to interfere with essential job duties, attendance, reliability, endurance, or safe performance, treatment records alone may not fully explain the occupational impact. We provide evidence-based physician medical opinions for federal employees pursuing Disability Retirement through the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under FERS or CSRS.
Disability Retirement Is About Function
A diagnosis, by itself, does not establish that an employee is unable to continue working. The more important medical question is:
How does the condition affect the employee's ability to perform the essential duties of the position consistently and reliably over time?
Medical records may thoroughly document diagnoses, symptoms, medications, imaging, laboratory findings, and treatment without clearly addressing:
- Work-related functional limitations;
- Essential job duties;
- Physical or cognitive endurance;
- Attendance and reliability;
- Safety-sensitive responsibilities;
- Treatment effects;
- Unsuccessful accommodation efforts; or
- Whether continued performance of the position remains medically sustainable.
A physician medical opinion can bring those elements together into a structured occupational assessment.
Disability retirement depends on functional impact, not diagnosis alone.
The Federal Disability Retirement Framework
OPM administers disability retirement under both the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS) and the Civil Service Retirement System (CSRS).
Although some eligibility requirements differ, both systems generally require evidence that:
- A disease or injury prevents useful and efficient service in the employee's current position;
- The disabling condition is expected to last at least one year;
- The agency cannot adequately accommodate the employee in the current position; and
- Appropriate reassignment has been considered.
OPM defines useful and efficient service in terms that include successful performance of the critical or essential elements of the position, along with satisfactory conduct and attendance.
FERS
FERS disability retirement generally requires at least 18 months of creditable civilian service. FERS applicants must also apply for Social Security disability benefits. Learn more about SSDI/SSI Medical Opinions.
CSRS
CSRS disability retirement generally requires at least 5 years of creditable civilian service. Social Security disability application requirements differ from FERS and may apply in certain CSRS Offset cases.
Eligibility and benefit determinations are made by OPM. Our role is limited to the medical and occupational analysis.
Important: The One-Year Filing Deadline
If you have already separated from federal service, timing matters.
For both FERS and CSRS, a disability retirement application generally must be received by OPM within one year after separation from federal employment, subject to a very limited exception involving mental incompetence.
If you are approaching this deadline, do not delay your application while waiting for a medical opinion.
The question is whether your health and your job can still be reconciled.
When a Physician Opinion May Be Helpful
A comprehensive medical opinion may be particularly useful when:
- Your medical records establish significant conditions but do not explain their occupational impact;
- Your symptoms have progressively interfered with essential duties;
- Your position involves substantial physical, cognitive, travel, field, supervisory, law-enforcement, or safety-sensitive demands;
- Multiple medical conditions interact to affect your ability to work;
- Your attendance, reliability, or endurance has deteriorated;
- Workplace accommodations have been attempted but have not adequately resolved the problem;
- Your treating clinicians have provided brief medical notes without detailed functional analysis;
- You are preparing an initial application; or
- OPM has already denied the application and the medical reasoning requires further clarification.
What Our Physician Evaluates
Medical Evidence
Occupational Evidence
Occupational Evidence
- Confirmed diagnoses;
- Longitudinal medical history;
- Treatment and response to treatment;
- Objective clinical findings;
- Symptoms and treatment effects;
- Medication side effects;
- Prognosis; and
- Expected duration of impairment.
Occupational Evidence
Occupational Evidence
Occupational Evidence
- Official position description;
- Essential job functions;
- Physical and cognitive demands;
- Travel or fieldwork requirements;
- Supervisory or safety-sensitive responsibilities;
- Attendance and reliability requirements;
- Accommodation history;
- Reassignment efforts; and
- Relevant agency documentation.
The Central Medical Analysis is:
medical condition → functional limitation → job demand → ability to provide useful and efficient service
Four Areas of Function
Physical Capacity
Cognitive & Psychological Function
Cognitive & Psychological Function
Strength, mobility, lifting, standing, walking, repetitive activity, stamina, pain, or other physical demands.
Cognitive & Psychological Function
Cognitive & Psychological Function
Cognitive & Psychological Function
Concentration, memory, executive function, stress tolerance, decision-making, emotional regulation, or cognitive endurance.
Attendance & Reliability
Safety & Occupational Demands
Safety & Occupational Demands
Absences, unpredictable exacerbations, treatment requirements, symptom-related interruptions, or inability to sustain a consistent schedule.
Safety & Occupational Demands
Safety & Occupational Demands
Safety & Occupational Demands
Travel, fieldwork, driving, law-enforcement duties, hazardous environments, decision-making responsibility, or other job-specific safety concerns.
Disability Retirement Is Usually Not the First Question
Many federal employees first attempt to remain at work through treatment, workplace modification, or reasonable accommodation. Disability retirement becomes a different medical question when those measures are no longer sufficient to allow consistent and reliable performance of the position.
If you can continue working with appropriate changes, a Workplace Accommodation Medical Opinion may be the more appropriate service.
If continued performance is no longer medically sustainable, a Federal Disability Retirement Medical Opinion may be appropriate. The purpose of the evaluation is not to prove that accommodation failed, but to assess objectively whether the available evidence supports the conclusion that the employee can no longer provide useful and efficient service.
Our Process
Federal disability retirement cases can vary substantially in medical complexity, record volume, and occupational demands. For that reason, we use a tiered evaluation process.
Level 0: Preliminary Medical Assessment | $500
Level 2 Comprehensive Disability Retirement IMO: $1850
Level 0: Preliminary Medical Assessment | $500
A physician assessment of whether the available medical and occupational evidence appears capable of supporting a Federal Disability Retirement medical opinion.
The review may identify:
- Evidence that supports proceeding;
- Important gaps in the medical record;
- Additional documentation that may strengthen the evaluation; or
- Reasons a supportive opinion may not be medically appropriate.
This includes a physician review of up to 25 pages of evidentiary records. If the case is medically supportable and you proceed sequentially to a Level 2 or Level 3 evaluation, the Level 0 fee is credited toward that service.
Best suited for employees who want to determine whether the medical evidence is sufficiently developed before investing in a comprehensive opinion.
Level 1: Focused Medical Narrative | $1250
Level 2 Comprehensive Disability Retirement IMO: $1850
Level 0: Preliminary Medical Assessment | $500
A focused physician report that includes:
- Review of up to 50 pages of evidentiary records;
- Synthesis of relevant medical history;
- Assessment of functional limitations; and
- Structured medical reasoning addressing work capacity.
Best suited for cases requiring a physician-authored medical and functional narrative without the additional depth of a comprehensive occupational opinion.
Level 2 Comprehensive Disability Retirement IMO: $1850
Level 2 Comprehensive Disability Retirement IMO: $1850
Level 2 Comprehensive Disability Retirement IMO: $1850
A comprehensive written opinion that includes review of up to 50 pages of evidentiary records and addresses the relevant medical and occupational evidence.
The report may include detailed analysis of:
- Essential job functions;
- Longitudinal medical course;
- Functional limitations;
- Treatment response;
- Reliability and attendance;
- Accommodation history; and/or
- The medical relationship between the employee's condition and continued ability to perform the position.
Best suited for federal disability retirement cases requiring a detailed, in-depth independent medical opinion.
Supplemental Medical Opinion (existing clients only)
Supplemental Medical Opinion (existing clients only)
Level 2 Comprehensive Disability Retirement IMO: $1850
Examples include:
- OPM requests clarification regarding your original medical opinion.
- New medical evidence becomes available that could materially affect your conclusions.
- OPM denies the application and the applicant requests that you address specific medical issues raised in the decision.
Supplemental opinions are available only for medical opinions originally prepared by David Medical Services. This work is separately billed, and new evidence may change the physician's original conclusions.
Applicants seeking an independent medical opinion after an unfavorable OPM determination may be considered for a new, separately scoped evaluation.
Reconsideration, MSPB, and Complex Matters: Varies
Supplemental Medical Opinion (existing clients only)
Reconsideration, MSPB, and Complex Matters: Varies
Cases involving:
- OPM reconsideration;
- MSPB proceedings;
- Unusually extensive evidentiary records;
- Attorney-directed evaluations; or
- Particularly complex medical or occupational questions
These special cases require individualized review and pricing.
Add-on Interview by Physician: $300
Supplemental Medical Opinion (existing clients only)
Reconsideration, MSPB, and Complex Matters: Varies
A thirty-minute interview by the physician may be added to any tier selected. The interview allows the physician to clarify:
- Occupational history;
- Actual job demands;
- Functional limitations;
- Treatment course;
- Accommodation efforts;
- Symptom progression; and
- Other clinically important details not fully captured in the records.
Best suited for complex cases in which direct physician clarification is likely to improve the completeness and accuracy of the evaluation. Please note that the purpose of this add-on is not for medicolegal strategy or treatment advice.
What Records Are Helpful?
Focused Records Are More Useful Than Volume
Relevant documentation may include:
- Recent evidentiary records concerning the disabling conditions;
- Important specialist evaluations;
- Objective testing;
- Treatment history;
- Medication information;
- Work restrictions;
- Prior accommodation documentation;
- Attendance or leave records when relevant;
- The official position description;
- Descriptions of actual essential job duties;
- Agency documentation related to accommodation or reassignment;
- Prior OPM decisions, if applicable; and
- Relevant SF 3112 materials.
We can provide more specific record instructions based on your case, if you need assistance.
Our Role is Medical
We do not determine whether you are legally entitled to federal disability retirement.
We do not calculate retirement benefits.
We do not represent applicants before OPM or MSPB.
And we cannot guarantee approval. OPM makes the disability retirement determination.
Our role is to evaluate whether the medical and occupational evidence supports a physician opinion concerning your ability to continue performing your federal position.
Independent. Evidence-Based. Physician-Authored.
Payment does not purchase a predetermined medical conclusion.
Some cases strongly support disability retirement from a medical perspective. In others:
- The evidence may support continued work with accommodation;
- The functional limitations may not be sufficiently documented;
- Additional treatment records may be needed; or
- The available evidence may not establish inability to perform essential duties.
Our responsibility is to provide an objective medical assessment based on the evidence available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. We provide physician medical opinions for appropriate disability-retirement matters under both FERS and CSRS. Although the systems have different service and benefit requirements, the medical evaluation in both focuses on how the employee's condition affects the ability to provide useful and efficient service.
No single diagnosis automatically qualifies an employee for disability retirement. The important issue is the severity and duration of the functional impairment and how it affects the ability to perform the position.
Federal Disability Retirement is not simply a determination that a person is incapable of all employment. The medical analysis focuses on the employee's ability to provide useful and efficient service in the federal position at issue and the surrounding accommodation and reassignment considerations.
A treating physician's letter may be entirely sufficient in some cases. A separate independent opinion may be useful when the existing documentation does not adequately address functional limitations, essential job duties, prognosis, or the occupational relationship between the condition and the position.
We can review appropriate reconsideration matters. The first step is generally to evaluate the denial, existing medical documentation, and occupational evidence to determine whether a clearer or better-supported medical opinion is reasonably possible.
No. No medical provider can guarantee an OPM determination. Our reports are independent medical opinions, not guarantees of benefits.
Has Your Medical Condition Made Continued Federal Service Unsustainable?
A structured physician review can help determine whether your medical and occupational evidence supports a Federal Disability Retirement opinion.
If you are uncertain whether you should begin with Level 0 or a comprehensive evaluation, submit the intake form and we can help identify the most appropriate starting point.
Medical opinions prepared by physicians experienced in Internal Medicine, Occupational Medicine, and independent medical evidence evaluation.
Independent physician medical opinions for workplace accommodations, federal disability retirement, Social Security disability, and selected military matters.
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