According to the National Institutes of Health, approximately one in 10 Americans experience severe pain every day. This pain could be the result of any number of conditions. Because pain is a subjective experience, not every condition that causes pain is known — but what is known is that pain can drastically affect your quality […]
A recent federal court ruling from Washington state was harshly critical of a disability insurer’s treatment of a benefit claimant suffering from multiple sclerosis. The case, Gorena v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 2018 WL 2113952 (W.D. Wash., May 8, 2018), involved Sarah Gorena, who worked as a staff analyst at Boeing for more than 10 […]
Multiple Sclerosis is a serious neurological disorder that is often disabling. The Multiple Sclerosis Foundation estimates that more than 400,000 people in the United States suffer some level of symptoms from the condition. Not all cases lead to disability. However, the condition can progress to the point that continuing to work is no longer an option for […]
Perhaps the most difficult task in evaluating disability benefit claims is assessing the weight to be given to subjective symptoms. In Cline v. Aetna Life Insurance Co., 2017 WL 5490853 (W.D. N.C., Nov. 15, 2017), the court addressed that issue head-on. The plaintiff, Larry Cline, a commercial pilot for Netjets, suffered from lumbar stenosis and […]
Proving an entitlement to disability benefits on account of headaches can be extremely challenging. Unlike many other disabilities that can be objectively diagnosed by MRI, x-ray, or blood tests, “objective” proof of headaches can be elusive. The proof difficulties can be even more challenging if the benefit plan requires objective medical evidence. How then can […]
Attorneys Mark DeBofsky and Bridget O’Ryan secured a victory in the U.S. Court of Appeals on May 18, 2017 in a disability benefit case involving fibromyalgia – Kennedy v. Lilly Extended Disability Plan, 2017 WL 2178091 (7th Cir. May 18, 2017)(available at Final Opinion). The court began its ruling by announcing that this case is about fibromyalgia, and […]