Once you have been diagnosed with any severe condition, this is the first part of the necessary medical evidence that you need to submit to the Social Security in your disability claim.
The second part of the necessary medical evidence that must be submitted in your disability claim is evidence of confirmation of your diagnosis, such as:
- Laboratory reports
- MRI results
- CT-scan results and
- X-rays results
Third, you need to read your medical records, please do not assume that they are complete, correct or even say that you have limitations.
The truth that medical records are doctor’s notes of what he or she believe to be important about your treatment, not notes of how your condition limits, restricts, impairs the use of any of your body parts.
That is why it is important to read your medical records which may be incorrect, may have vital and important information missing or simply false information or even your real pain, most medical records mentioned pain as a justification for pain medication, and give the impression that your pain medications take care of your pain.
Rarely the medical records mention if your pain is constant, if it gets worse with physical movements such as sitting, standing, walking, bending, knelling, pushing, pulling or climbing.
Rarely to medical records impose any physical limitations such as how long can you stand, sit, walk or how much weight can you carry occasionally or frequently. Much less if you have any difficulty bending, stooping, crouching, kneeling, pushing, pulling or climbing.
Many clients assume that all they need to prove is a diagnosis and that they take medication for it.
The truth is that our doctors spend few minutes with use and are more concern about the medication side effects, and other medication matters, they rarely ask us about physical limitations, and much less do an in-depth strictly of our physical limitations and on this the Social Security Administration is counting on this is their primary reason for denying your claim.
Also, it appears as if you never mentioned it to your doctor or she or she did not consider it that important to include in your medical records.
Many people ask me what they can do to make their doctors include these matters in their medical records, simple sit down and write them a letter about what you feel should be in your medical records or is any error you feel are in your medical records, such as procedures you have never had, smoking, severe obesity when you do not agree, mention that you are not following doctor’s instructions.
Once you have read your medical records and wrote to your doctor, you need to have a long conversation with your doctor such as follows:
- Doctor for what are you treating me I am claiming to the Social Security that it prevents me from doing examples: sitting for more than X minutes or hours. Standing for more than X minutes or hours, using my hands or fingers for more than X minutes or hours, or lifting more than X pounds frequently or X occasionally, etc.
- Doctor I need to know if you agree with me as to my limitations, simply because the Social Security or your lawyer may send them a questionnaire asking the above questions and many others.
Please do not assume that your doctor agrees with you, in particular since he or she never told you to go and apply for Social Security Disability Benefits because in his opinion you can no longer work at any type of job.
It is not what medical evidence do you need, it is the quality of what is said in these medical records that counts.
You will greatly benefit from an experienced Social Security Lawyer to help you with your claim. I have handled Social Security disability for the past 42 years, thousands of disability claims, and it is all I do. Call me at 407-894-4779 for an in person or phone consultation about your Social Security disability claim.