Three Words in Your Medical Records That Can Kill Your Disability Case

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There are THREE WORDS  in your medical records that can kill your Social Security Disability or Veterans  Benefit Claim. With our help we can avoid this problem and maximize your chances of getting the disability benefits YOU deserve.

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Medical records are the most important evidence to proving a Social Security disability or Veterans disability claim.

Often patients get too comfortable with their treating medical providers and assume “they know how I feel” or “I already told them what is wrong.”   This can lead to a fatal mistake when filing for disability benefits with SSA or the VA.

A successful disability claim with SSA or the VA requires ongoing medical treatment records to document the chronic medical impairments that a claimant is suffering from which impairs their ability to work or to perform activities of daily living. 

If you go to your doctor and she asks: “how are you?” and you say: “I’m doing okay” you have just tanked your disability claim. These three words “I’m doing okay” or “I’m doing fine” tell SSA or the VA that your symptoms are well-controlled and you have no impairments.  This may not be true!  What you MAY have meant when you said “I’m doing okay” is that your condition is the same as your last appointment.  However, SSA or the VA is not going to know this.  They only know what your medical provider writes down.  When I see these words like “I’m doing okay” or “I’m doing fine”  in a client’s medical records, my stomach sinks because I know that client’s case just got a lot more difficult to prove.

 IN ORDER TO PROVE ONGOING, CHRONIC MEDICAL IMPAIRMENTS YOU NEEED TO TELL YOUR TREATING DOCTORS ABOUT YOUR MEDICAL SYMPTOMS EVERYTIME AT EVERY VISIT.

The most important evidence in your disability claim is the objective medical findingsfrom your treating physicians.  SSA looks to the written findings of your treating doctors to support your allegations in your disability claim. For example, if you have joint or muscle pain and/or weakness in your arms and legs, your doctor should examine you and confirm in her medical records that you have pain and weakness in the parts of your body that you told her about.  Complaints of fatigue, shortness of breath, headaches, difficulty thinking or concentrating are harder for doctors to objectively quantify but you should tell your doctors about your symptoms at every visit to ensure these symptoms are regularly being documented in your medical records.

WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU WITH YOUR SSDI VA DISABILITY CLAIM

I’m sure you have additional questions about your disability claim so give us a call today.  If you’re unable to work due to your health symptoms, you need a skilled Social Security or VA disability attorney from Geraty, Holub and MacQueen to fight for you.

Contact us today at (855) 282-7243 to schedule a free initial consultation to see if we can help you. There’s no fee unless we win.  It’s about dignity.