Maryland Injury and Disability Law : Washington DC Metro Injury & Disability Lawyer & Attorney : Greenberg & Bederman : Accidents, Falls, Medical Malpractice : Maryland, DC, Virginia

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Why Can’t You Work?

“Why can’t you work”, I ask the client. “Because I have arthritis”, replies the claimant. The diagnosis is helpful as a starting point but it doesn’t really tell me why the individual can’t work.
What matters is how badly the person is affected by the condition/disease. This is true for almost all conditions, even cancer.

Granted the diagnosis of cancer is scary to anyone, but there are many cancers which can be treated and cured in far less than 12 months, with little to no lasting effect. Of course, there are cancers which cause great and, often, prolonged suffering. The issue in each case is how sick is this particular cancer patient and how long is this person going to remain sick.

While the diagnosis of cancer strikes fear in the hearts of most people, the majority of people do not think of skin diseases being disabling. And, as a rule, while they are annoying, they are not considered disabling. Nonetheless, there are cases in which a skin disorder can rise to the level of disability.. The severity of skin conditions is assessed by considering the extent of the lesions, frequency of flare-ups, how the symptoms limit the particular individual, the extent of the treatment, and how the treatment affects the individual.

In the case of my client with arthritis, the question is “how is this individual affected by his/her condition”? In determining this, one must look at many factors including what objective findings are present, which joints are affected, how does this effect the person’s ability to walk, sit, stand, lift, etc, whether there are exacerbating factors such as obesity, whether there are side effects from medication that imposes limitations on one’s ability to concentrate, stay on pace, and/or persist at tasks, whether assistive devices are necessary, and whether there are any joint deformities, etc.

With very few exceptions, the mere fact that a person has a certain disease does not guarantee that the person will or will not be found disabled. It all depends on how sick/impaired the individual is. Remember that the diagnosis alone will very rarely be enough to prove disability.


Sources: 20 CFR §404, Subpart P, Appendix 1, www.nosscr.org

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