When a nurse in Parkville, Maryland was forced to stop working due to multiple medical conditions and a scheduled foot surgery, she filed a claim for disability benefits. The Prudential Insurance Company of America (Prudential) was quick to acknowledge her diagnoses and award long-term disability benefits. Prudential even continued our client’s benefits when the definition of disability changed, acknowledging that our client could not perform as a nurse or in any other occupation.
Then, without warning or explanation, Prudential terminated our client’s benefits. Fortunately, our client asked Dabdoub Law Firm for help.
Psoriasis and Other Diagnoses
Before leaving her job, our client suffered greatly. Although Prudential terminated her benefits without rhyme or reason, our client continues to suffer and cannot return to work. Her diagnoses include:
- Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
- Osteoarthritis
- Fibromyalgia
- Chronic pain
- Spondylosis
- Inflammatory arthritis
- Spondyloarthropathy
- Rheumatoid arthritis
The symptoms of our client’s medical conditions include joint pain and stiffness, swelling, fatigue, muscle weakness, and cognitive decline. Our client’s diagnoses and symptoms alone should be enough to show Prudential that she cannot return to work.
Still, Dabdoub Law Firm provided Prudential with overwhelming medical evidence of our client’s disability. Our client completed a functional capacity evaluation (FCE), which confirmed she had less than sedentary capacity and could not work for more than 3 hours and 10 minutes maximum per day. Additionally, an occupational therapist reviewed our client’s FCE, emphasizing that she cannot maintain a seated position for more than 2 hours each day.
An independent medical examination (IME) confirmed the results of the FCE and FCE review. The IME doctor noted that our client’s hands, feet, and knees were visibly swollen; standing up was delayed due to spinal pain, and she could only sit for 30 minutes at a time with noticeable discomfort. In fact, the IME doctor explained:
“To the extent that the claimant has chronic swelling, pain and stiffness of her fingers, continuous rapid and prolonged keyboard typing would not be possible,” thus disabling her from so much as a desk job.
As if this was not enough, our client also underwent a neuropsychological evaluation to confirm her cognitive decline and impairment. The neuropsychologist observed pain behaviors and fatigue behaviors and noted the physical and psychological signs of her disability.
Our Client’s Condition Did Not Change
Prudential would have been justified if our client’s medical conditions changed or improved. This was not the case. Her medical conditions remain painful, limiting, and impairing, and Prudential’s termination of benefits was and remains wrong and unreasonable.
Despite various treatments and therapies, our client has never regained functionality nor improved enough for a return to work. Sadly, her health has only declined and is not expected to get better.
The least Prudential could have done is paid our client the long-term disability benefit she deserved. After receiving an appeal from Dabdoub Law Firm, the insurance company decided to do the right thing.
Help from a Lawyer with Expertise in Disability Insurance
Dabdoub Law Firm was built to be a disability insurance law firm.
That focus means:
- All of our lawyers specialize in disability insurance claims.
- We have experience with every major disability insurance company.
- We have won important long-term disability lawsuits.
Our disability lawyers can help you with:
- Submitting a disability insurance claim,
- Appealing a long-term disability denial,
- Negotiating a lump-sum settlement, or
- Filing a lawsuit against your disability insurance company.
Hiring an experienced disability attorney is important. Because federal law applies to most disability insurance claims, our lawyers do not have to be located in your state.
Call us at (800) 969-0488 or contact us online for a free consultation with an experienced disability attorney. We won’t get paid unless you do.
