 SSDRC Filing a Social Security Disability Application - How to File & the Information that is Needed by SSA Do you need a Lawyer at the Administrative Law Judge Disability Hearing? Social Security Disability Back pay and How Long it Takes to Qualify for it How do you prove your disability case if you have a mental condition? What Can I Do to Improve My Chances of Winning Disability Benefits Common Mistakes after Receiving a Denial of benefits If You Get Approved For SSDI Will You Also Get Medicare? How much is paid for the Social Security Disability Attorney Fee? How long does it take to be approved for SSI or Social Security disability? How To Get Disability Through SSDI or SSI Approved Should you get Help from a Disability Attorney before the Claim has been Denied? Answers to questions about SSD and SSI disability Qualifying for Disability - What is Social Security Looking for? How do I check the status of my Social Security disability claim? What Expenses Will A Social Security Attorney Charge In Addition To The Fee? |
Facts about Pancreatic Cancer and Filing for DisabilityHow to prove you are disabled and win disability benefits 1. The pancreas is an organ located behind the stomach, and it is responsible for aiding digestion and regulating blood sugar levels. Pancreatic cancer is cancer that begins in the pancreas, but tends to spread quickly to other parts of the body before it can be successfully caught and treated. For this reason, those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer do not usually have good prognosis. 2. Part of the problem in early diagnosis is that there are no noticeable symptoms of pancreatic cancer until the disease is advanced. Once they occur, symptoms are upper abdominal and back pain, yellow skin and whites of the eyes, poor appetite, weight loss and signs of depression. 3. Cancer involves mutated cells that accumulate rather than dying the way normal cells would, often causing a tumor. Different types of abnormal cells cause different types of pancreatic cancer, and determine the way the cancer can be treated. 4. Adenocarcinoma is cancer that develops in the ducts of the pancreas where enzymes and digestive juices are produced. This is the most common type of pancreatic cancer. Endocrine cancers, which are very rare, form in the cells that produce hormones in the pancreas. 5. Pancreatic cancer occurs most commonly among adults over the age of 70 and African Americans. 6. Personally having, or having family members with, pancreatic conditions such as cancer or inflammation of the pancreas increases an individual's risk. A number of hereditary conditions that increase the risk of cancer overall also increase the risk of pancreatic cancer specifically. 7. Pancreatic cancer generally leads to death. Even when diagnosed and treated early, there is a high rate of recurrence. 8. Treatment may involve any combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, depending on how advanced the cancer is, where it is located in the pancreas, and the overall health of the individual. Can you qualify for disability benefits with this condition? Whether or not you qualify for disability and, as a result, are approved for disability benefits will depend entirely on the information obtained from your medical records. This includes whatever statements may have been obtained from your treating physician (a doctor who has a history of treating your condition and is, therefore, qualified to comment as to your condition and prognosis). It will also depend on the information obtained from your vocational, or work, history if you are an adult, or academic records if you are a minor-age child. The important thing to keep in mind is that the social security administration does not award benefits based on simply having a condition, but, instead, will base an approval or denial on the extent to which a condition causes functional limitations. Functional limitations can be great enough to make work activity not possible (or, for a child, make it impossible to engage in age-appropriate activities). Why are so many disability cases lost at the disability application and reconsideration appeal levels? Speaking as a former Disability Claims Examiner, I can state that there are several reasons: 1) Social Security makes no attempt to obtain a statement from a claimant's treating physician. By contrast, at the hearing level, a claimant and his or her disability attorney will generally obtain and present this type of statement to a judge; 2) Prior to the hearing level, a claimant will not have the opportunity to explain how their condition limits them, nor will their attorney or representative have the opportunity to make a presentation based on the evidence of the case. At the hearing level, of course, this is exactly what happens. And a number of disability representatives will also take such steps even earlier, at the reconsideration appeal level; 3) Disability judges, unlike disability examiners who decides cases at the first two levels of the system, can make independent decisions without being overturned by immediate supervisors--which happens frequently. 
Return to: SSDRC, or the Questions, Answers, Tips, and Advice page Topics and Questions Other Links SSD and SSI are Federal Programs The title II Social Security Disability and title 16 SSI Disability programs operate under federal guidelines and, therefore, the program requirements--medical and non-medical--apply to all states: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming Recent approval and denial statistics for various states can be viewed here: Social Security Disability, SSI Approval and Denial Statistics by state Special Section: Disability Lawyers and unnecessary claim denials |