Did the Social Security Administration Just Call You a Big Liar???

If you’ve had an administrative hearing before the Social Security Administration and have been denied disability benefits yet again, I can almost guarantee that the unfavorable decision will say in there somewhere that your complaints about your symptoms are “inconsistent” with the evidence. Sounds like you’re just lying your pants off. Don’t take it personally, though; similar language is in just about every denial decision I see. 

The administrative law judge (ALJ) who conducts your hearing is required to make certain findings in order to evaluate your case. One of these findings involves deciding whether your complaints are consistent with your medical records. Now, I’ve read a few million pages of medical records in my day and I can tell you that 90% of the time your doctors and other treatment providers don’t document your every problem and complaint in your medical records. And, really, can anyone ever be “entirely consistent” all the time when compared with the contents of their medical records?  You certainly may have different symptoms on different days; it’s entirely normal for your symptoms to “wax and wane” and fluctuate from day to day.

So, what can you or your attorney/representative do to avoid this problem? Here are a few ideas about things you can do BEFORE your administrative hearing with an ALJ:

• Keep a diary of your symptoms. Every day write down the symptoms you’re experiencing that day. Document the severity of the symptoms; for example, write down the level of your back pain where level 1 is just a tiny bit of pain and level 10 pain causes you to go to the emergency room. Describe the pain as aching, stabbing, a lightning bolt, etc.
• Have your family fill out Third Party Function Reports or write detailed statements about the symptoms THEY see you deal with on a daily basis. They should be specific with details such as “When I go to the grocery store with my mom, she can only walk for 5 minutes before we have to stop, and she sits down to rest for 5 minutes. She has a hard time breathing, uses her inhaler, and I can tell her ankles are swollen.”
• Ask your treatment providers to fully document your reports to them and to indicate in your records whether they think your complaints are reasonably due to one of your diagnoses. Let them know you have a pending claim for disability, and you need their help. Some will be willing to write a letter for you or fill out a medical source statement for you. If they’re not willing to do that, though, full and complete documentation in your medical records can help your case.

I just had a hearing with a client last week who talked to her doctor early on about helping with her case. He was willing to assist us because he firmly believes she’s disabled. I was able to provide him with a special form to fill out so that his assessment of my client’s problems and limitations would be written in Social Security Administration jargon. We submitted this information to the judge about two weeks before her hearing, as well as my client’s symptom diary and statements from her prior employer and a family member. When we got to the hearing, I argued to the judge that this doctor’s report was supported by the medical records and I pointed out every consistency in the documents in my client’s case. By the end of the hearing, the judge told us he is going to find my client disabled.

Every case is different and specific strategies can be employed to maximize your chances of being found disabled. Don’t set yourself up to be called a liar by the Social Security Administration. Get some help with your case to give yourself the best possible chance of being awarded the benefits you need and deserve.

Best regards,

Lisa McNair Palmer, Esq.

800-580-9335

FB: VADisabilityHelp

Tw: DisabledVetLaw

[email protected]

Tulsa, OK

**This article should not be considered specific legal advice in your case. I do not represent you and cannot give you legal advice unless and until we sign certain papers.**