Short & Long Term Disability Cases We’ve Won for Our Clients Against Various Insurers
Fields Law Firm successfully recovers millions of dollars each year for our disabled clients throughout the United States. Our Long Term Disability experience is matched by very few other law firms in the country and has earned us a national reputation.
Here are just a few examples of our Long Term Disability appeal case wins against various insurers.
Pamela – Specimen Processer – Sharpsburg, North Carolina
Bilateral Carpel Tunnel Syndrome, Spinal Stenosis, Lyme Disease
A 48-year-old woman from North Carolina suffered from several disabilities including bilateral carpel tunnel syndrome, spinal stenosis, and Lyme disease. As a Specimen Processor, she was required to stand for long periods of time, use her hands and wrists, delicately handle blood samples, bacteria cultures and bodily organs, none of which was possible with quivering hands and extreme pain. She received Short Term Disability benefits, but the application for Long Term Disability was denied.
She then hired Fields Law Firm to appeal the denial and our attorneys requested supportive medical reports from her rheumatologist, orthopedist and longtime family physician. The medical report requests were designed to have each doctor answer the right questions relating to the client’s disability, and to explain why she was unable to do her job as a specimen processor. The doctors responded with highly supportive reports clearly showing that our client was disabled and unable to work.
After a brief but careful review, the insurer reversed its denial and awarded Long Term Disability benefits to our client, who will now receive the much-needed Long Term Disability payments to help her get better and hopefully return to the workforce.
Howard – Repair Technician – Huntington Station, New York
Osteoarthritis
A Repair Technician from New York suffered from osteoarthritis. When his doctors removed him from work, he applied for Long Term Disability benefits through his employer’s plan. At first, Aetna approved his claim and paid his benefits. However, when the definition of disabled changed under the policy, requiring him to be disabled from Any Occupation, Aetna denied the claim arguing there were other occupations he could perform.
Concerned, our client turned to Fields Law Firm for help. Our team drafted built an appeal to fight this decision. We reached out to our client’s doctors for specific narratives answering questions aimed at fighting this decision. Additionally, we received an independent vocational assessment pointing out that our client could not, in fact, perform any other occupations in the national economy. After receiving our appeal Aetna reversed its denial, paid our client his back pay and restarted his monthly disability payments.
Dennis – Machine Operator – Phelps, New York
Lumbar Pain, Cervical Radiculopathy, Bilateral Carpal Tunnel with Neuropathy
A machine operator quit his job due to extensive nerve pain along his spine. His symptoms resulted in a complete inability to keep up with the heavy physical demands of his job. Aetna paid benefits intermittently for the first six months, stating they needed extra medical records and doctors’ notes. Finally, Aetna denied benefits stating the medical evidence in the file was insufficient to show ongoing disability.
He hired Fields Law Firm to appeal the wrongful denial decision. The Fields Law attorneys gathered medical evidence from our client’s doctors and requested detailed reports refuting the findings of the insurer’s doctors. Those reports were submitted along with legal and factual arguments regarding selective review of the evidence in the denial letter. Aetna quickly reversed its decision and reinstated benefits. With his financial security reestablished, our client was able to focus on treating for his conditions and pursue his Social Security Disability case.
