Fibromyalgia Archives - Ginsberg Law Social Security Disability

You may have read in the news that the Social Security Disability trust fund (not the retirement trust fund) is scheduled to run out of money in 2016, just four years from now. If Congress does not act, benefits to existing claimants will automatically be cut 21%.

While Congress will most likely wait until the last minute to shore up the disability trust fund, I can already see a change in the level of scrutiny that some judges are applying to disability cases.

A colleague of mine who attended a recent disability claims representative conference tells me that a major topic of discussion at this conference was a rumor that Social Security Administration Commissioner Astrue has established a goal for judges to approve only 30% of the cases they consider. By contrast, judges nationally now approve close to 60% of all cases at ALJ hearings. The National Association of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives has apparently filed a freedom of information request to investigate this rumor.

Whether this approval rate goal is true or not, I can tell you that I have definitely noticed a trend whereby disability judges are scrutinizing cases much more carefully. During several of my hearings, judges have referenced my client’s age relative to age 50 – in other words, I think that claimants over the age of 50 have a better chance for approval than younger claimants.

Another area where judges are clamping down has to do with fibromyalgia cases. I first starting seeing a significant number of fibromyalgia cases about 15 years ago. Initially, judges did not know what to do with a condition that could not be confirmed by objective tests, but that affected claimants (especially women) in a very dramatic and consistent fashion.

Back in the mid-1990’s judges would call medical witnesses to help them understand this chronic pain condition – it was not uncommon to see psychiatrists, psychologists, orthopedists, neurologists and even orthopedic surgeons appear as expert witnesses to offer theories about what was going on with these claimants.

By the early 2000’s I was consistently winning fibromyalgia cases for claimants who met “the profile:”

females, age 40+
type A personalities
past work at fast paced stressful jobs
consistent and extensive work history
some form of physical and/or emotional trauma in the past
employment at a level often exceeding their education level
visits to multiple medical providers and extensive medical records
problems with digestion and balance
short term memory problems (i.e., fibro fog)
myofascial pain
crushing fatigue
deep joint and muscle pain
pain that seemed to travel around the body [Read more…] about Fibromyalgia Cases Coming Under More Scrutiny

I recently posted a case study describing a fibromyalgia disability case I tried before a very reasonable judge in the Atlanta hearing office. I know this judge to be very fair and he tends to approve a higher than average number of claims.

In this particular case, my client was a 59 year old woman with extensive and supportive treatment records. She was a “classic” fibromyalgia patient in that:

she was a high achieving female
she was over age 45
she experiences balance problems
she experience digestive problems
she experiences “fibro fog”
she has sought treatment from multiple doctors and has been fully compliant with treatment

In this case, the judge announced a favorable bench decision without the need for testimony from the vocational witness. Interestingly, the judge based his fully favorable bench decision on the work limitations described in a consultative psychological evaluation report rather than on the fibromyalgia record. This suggests to me that this judge, at least, remains reluctant to rely solely on fibromyalgia as the basis for a favorable decision. [Read more…] about Fibromyalgia Still Not Fully Accepted by Social Security Judges