There are plenty of stories of disability fraud. What about when the Soc Sec systems cheats the disabled? I have IPF, Ideopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis. An incurable, progressive, fatal disease. I also have Leukemia, emphysema, and COPD. I filed for disability back to the point at which my symptoms first became obviously IPF, even though at the time, I did not know what was causing them. For over a year, I was diagnosed and in many cases misdiagnosed and treated for illnesses I did not have. Valley fever, pneumonia, allergies, side effects of my Leukemia chemotherapy; we ran the gamut for over a year.
Once my diagnosis of IPF was finalized, I filed my claim as a Compassionate Allowance illness(CAL). Social Security has an obligation to provide benefits quickly to applicants whose medical conditions are so serious that their conditions obviously meet disability standards. Compassionate Allowances (CAL) are a way of quickly identifying diseases and other medical conditions that invariably qualify under the Listing of Impairments based on minimal objective medical information. Compassionate Allowances allow Social Security to quickly target the most obviously disabled individuals for allowances based on objective medical information that we can obtain quickly.
My initial claim was finally granted, after months instead of the weeks prescribed, but the start date of the disability was given as January, 2011. This was after the many months and thousands of dollars of diagnostic tests to determine – WHY I had debilitating symptoms! I appealed to have the disability date back when the illness first became symptomatic, not when it was finally diagnosed. My appeal was finally scheduled after several months at the Tucson Social Security office; an Adjudicator was assigned; I naively represented myself.
The Adjudicator ignored the QDD (Quick Disability Determination and the procedures outlined in the Social Security guidelines. He spent the majority of my inquisition trying to make me admit that there are jobs I could perform. The ability to work is specifically NOT a factor in CAL diseases and the QDD process. None of his harassment of why I was not working were even supposed to be a part of the hearing. He even referred to my ability to work in his written opinion.
The Adjudicator acknowledged several times in the hearing and in his written opinion that I have, without a doubt, a diagnosis of IPF, a CAL listed disease. In his determination that I was not diagnosed with IPF until January 2011, he even referred to the CT scan of March 2010 that SHOWED pulmonary fibrosis. He referred to that finding in his written report! Yet he “found” that I did not “have” IPF until January 2011.
His second bone of contention with my case, and why he branded me a liar was that I had been claiming unemployment benefits since January 2010. At that time I did not KNOW that I had IPF. The diagnoses I was receiving back at that time ranged from the common cold, to pneumonia, to side effects, to valley fever, etc., none of which would to my knowledge have exempted me from collecting unemployment benefits. But it was enough for him to disparage me in his chamber and in his written opinion as a liar – something extremely hurtful to me.
The adjudicator does not know me; he has no idea the role that integrity and honesty have played in my life. I have many times sacrificed advancement and wealth at the expense of my ethics and ideals. Yet he used his authority to declare me not credible, so he could ignore my testimony. He decided I am a liar; both in his chamber and in his written decision. So nothing I said was given any weight.
Over six decades I have witnessed a number of small men given big power over others to impact their lives. They relish their power and often bully those helpless to defend themselves. In this case he is a highly paid federal employee who cannot be restrained. What I can hope for is that he is prevented from hearing any more cases that are QDD cases with individuals diagnosed with diseases on the Compassionate List. Those of us with fatal diseases and our families have quite enough to deal with emotionally and physically not to have to deal with a biased, cruel individual such as this who so enjoys his position of power.
Now I am in the position of having to appeal my appeal. I was naïve to suppose that this was a case of common sense and that I could represent myself, without counsel. I am going to be forced to give a large portion of my disability compensation to an attorney when the entire Compassionate Allowance procedure was set up to prevent that necessity.
Read Next Complaint >>
