Short & Long Term Disability Cases We’ve Won for Our Clients Against The Standard

A Mississippi man who worked in a warehouse and drove a forklift suddenly developed excruciating, intractable migraine headaches. His headaches, at times, became so penetrating he couldn’t see straight nor maintain his balance, and would frequently need to sit down until these terrifying episodes would go away. His doctors ordered MRI scans which did not reveal abnormalities in his brain. Bravely, he continued with his job. Eventually, out of fear of hurting fellow co-workers, not to mention damaging one of the businesses few forklifts, he filed for disability. He was granted disability payments for a period of time. After a medical review and discovering a lack of abnormal findings on MRI or CT scans, The Standard made the decision to discontinue benefits and cease disability payments.

He needed help working with The Standard and came to Fields Law Firm. Our attorneys gathered supporting documentation from his medical providers, and built a flawless case to support his claim for Long Term Disability benefits. Our team of attorneys presented an appeal asserting that The Standard selectively ignored evidence in his records and failed to properly recognize our client’s debilitating migraines, which qualified him as disabled under the policy. The Standard overturned its decision, granting the Long Term Disability benefits he deserved. He was happy with the result and soon began to receive regular checks in the mail.

A Computer Support Specialist from Missouri had been suffering from severe disabling abdominal pain and joint pain secondary to her chronic Crohn’s conditions. Because of the chronic pain these conditions caused, she was forced to leave work on doctor’s recommendations. She applied for Long Term Disability benefits, which were denied at application. The Standard had obtained a questionnaire completed by her shoulder surgeon who was unfamiliar with her Crohn’s conditions. The surgeon stated that she had fully recovered from her shoulder surgery and was therefore capable of returning to her sedentary computer support specialist job.

Knowing she needed help to maintain her income, she contacted the attorneys at Fields Law. The team at Fields Law requested The Standard’s claim file and thoroughly reviewed the internal notes for flaws in their analysis, requested letters of support from our client’s doctors and put together an appeal of The Standard’s denial decision. Further, Fields Law attorneys coordinated with our client’s providers and obtained updated medical records. When the appeal was submitted, the updated records obtained more than doubled The Standard’s original claim file. With the updated medical records submitted in support of our client’s appeal, they were forced to eventually approve the Fields Law appeal and continue to pay our client’s disability benefits.

The Fields Law team helped a former middle school worker who was forced to stop working due to major depression, anxiety, panic disorder with agoraphobia, and urticaria. Her disability insurer denied her Long Term Disability benefits. The Standard claimed that she was able to perform the material duties of her job and based its denial on a doctor’s review of our client’s medical records that was entirely inaccurate. This doctor had never even seen her as a patient and he conducted a selective review of her medical records.

The appeal we drafted for our client revealed the inadequacy of this doctor’s review and showed that the doctor ignored substantial medical evidence that was contrary to his conclusions. We used medical records to show the severity and persistence of our client’s symptoms. Fields Law Firm helped the worker fight every step of the way to reverse The Standard’s denial of benefits and ensured that she continued to get the benefits she deserves.