Eye Disorders Disability Insurance Benefits Claim

View Disability Cases Involving Eye Disorders Disability Insurance Benefits Claim

How Can Disability Insurance Attorneys Dell & Schaefer Assist You?

As disability attorneys, Dell & Schaefer have represented numerous long term disability claimants that have been unable to work or limited in their ability to work as a result of eye disease. We have represented numerous physicians as well as other business professionals that are disabled by an eye condition. Disability Attorneys Dell & Schaefer have an expansive understanding of the significant restrictions and limitations that a person suffering with eye disease must live with on a daily basis. We have worked closely with top physicians in order to sufficiently satisfy a disability carrier’s threshold of evidence necessary to prove that a client is disabled by an eye disease.

Not everyone suffering from an eye disease qualifies for long-term disability benefits, therefore the medical records of each client must be reviewed to determine the level of restrictions.

We welcome the opportunity to discuss your long-term disability claim.
You can contact us for a free initial consultation.

What is eye disease?

There are over 40 known eye diseases recognized by the World health Organization. There are over 45 million people who are blind worldwide and over 135 million people who are visually impaired for reasons such as injury, age and disease. In the United States alone 38 million Americans suffer from blindness, low vision, or an age-related eye disease and that number is expected to grow to around 50 million by 2020.

Most people will have a problem with their eyes at some point in their lives. Most eye problems are not serious and do not require a doctor’s care. However, certain eye diseases are serious and can result in blindness if left untreated. We will examine a few of those diseases below.

How the symptoms of eye disease can affect you

Cataracts – A cataract is a clouding of the lens of your eye. For people who have cataracts, seeing through cloudy lenses is like looking through a fogged-up window. Most cataracts develop when aging or injury alters the tissue that makes up your eye’s lens. Some cataracts are caused by inherited genetic disorders or other health problems, such as diabetes. People who suffer from diabetes are 60% more likely to develop cataracts than those who do not have the disease.
The only treatment for cataracts is surgery. Cataract surgery involves removing the clouded lens and replacing it with a plastic lens implant. The replacement lens sits in the same place as your natural lens and becomes part of your eye.

Eye Floaters – Eye floaters look like black or gray specks, strings or cobwebs that drift about when you move your eyes. Most eye floaters are caused by age-related changes that occur as the vitreous humor (jelly-like substance) inside your eyes becomes more liquid.

When this happens, microscopic fibers within the vitreous humor tend to clump together and can cast tiny shadows on your retina, which you may see as eye floaters.
In most cases, the floaters eventually settle into the bottom of the vitreous cavity out of the line of vision. In rare instances, eye floaters can become so abundant that they drastically interfere with your vision.

Most eye floaters require no treatment at all. However, if the eye floaters become so numerous that they significantly interfere with your vision, your doctor might suggest a surgical procedure, called a vitrectomy, which uses a hollow needle to withdraw the vitreous humor from your eye. The vitreous humor is then replaced with a saltwater solution. However, this procedure can cause a retinal detachment and cataracts, and it may not remove all of the floaters from the affected eye.

Glaucoma – Glaucoma is not just one disease, but a group of conditions resulting in optic nerve damage, which diminishes sight. Intraocular pressure (abnormally high pressure inside your eye) usually, but not always, causes this damage.

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness. More than 2.2 million Americans aged 40 and older have glaucoma. People with diabetes are 40% more likely to suffer from glaucoma than people without diabetes. The longer someone has had diabetes, the more common glaucoma is. Risk of developing glaucoma also increases with age.
The most common type of glaucoma is primary open-angle glaucoma. Primary open-angle glaucoma has no noticeable signs or symptoms except gradual vision loss and tunnel vision in the advanced stages of the disease.

Acute angle-closure glaucoma signs and symptoms include severe eye pain, nausea and vomiting (accompanying the severe eye pain), a sudden onset of visual disturbance, often in low light, blurred vision, halos around lights and a reddening of the eye.

Glaucoma treatments reduce the intraocular pressure by improving aqueous outflow, reducing the production of aqueous, or both. Glaucoma can’t be totally cured, and damage caused by the disease cannot be reversed, but treatment and regular checkups can prevent visual loss in people with very early glaucoma. If visual loss has already occurred, treatment can slow or prevent further vision loss.

Retinal Disorders – Retinal disorders are a leading cause of blindness in the United States. There are numerous disorders of the retina, each with its own unique features that may lead to different kinds of visual deficits. Though many retinal disorders are inherited, some are caused by the adverse effects of medications or by infections. Retinal disorders include age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal detachment.

A retinal disorder occurs when the retina malfunctions. In normal vision, the retina acts like the film in a camera. It is here where the pictures are created, so to speak, and then transmitted to the brain for interpretation.

Most disorders of the retina involve a disruption in the transmission of information from the photoreceptors to the brain. There are two types of photoreceptor cells: rods and cones. Rod cells function best in dim light and thus help us see in dimly lit environments. Cone cells function best in light and thus help us to see in daylight. Specifically, they are used for fine, detailed vision, and allow us to perceive color. The cones are concentrated in the fovea, which is located at the center of the retina. Peripheral to the fovea, there is a higher concentration of rod cells and the cones are more widely spaced and interspersed within the rods.

The symptoms of a retinal disorder vary widely from patient to patient, depending on the type of disorder, whether it is degenerative, where in the retina it originates, and whether it affects the rod or cone cells or both. Generally a person suffering from a retinal disorder may experience any of the following symptoms: poor night vision, a sudden loss of vision, loss of peripheral vision, Nystagmus (the rapid involuntary movement of the eyeball) and photophobia (an abnormal sensitivity to light).

For most retinal degenerations there is no cure. Treatment involves receiving an accurate diagnosis, with detailed prognosis, provision of low vision aids and genetic counseling. In some conditions, such as retinopathy of prematurity or macular degeneration, laser surgery can be used to destroy abnormal blood vessels and prevent further loss of vision.

Corneal Disorders- The cornea is the domed, transparent covering in the front of the eye that protects the iris and lens and helps focus light on the retina. It is composed of cells, protein, and fluid. The cornea looks fragile but is almost as stiff as a fingernail. However, it is very sensitive to touch. Corneal disease or damage can cause pain, tearing, and loss of vision. Some examples of corneal disorders are Bullous Keratopathy, corneal ulcer, herpes simplex keratitis, herpes zoster, keratoconus, peripheral ulcerative keratitis, and keratomalcia.

Optic Nerve Disorder- The small photoreceptors of the retina (the inner surface at the back of the eye) sense light and transmit impulses to the optic nerve. The optic nerve from each eye carries impulses to the brain, where visual information is interpreted. Damage to an optic nerve or damage to its pathways to the brain results in loss of vision. At a structure in the brain called the optic chiasm, each optic nerve splits, and half of its fibers cross over to the other side. Because of this anatomic arrangement, damage along the optic nerve pathway causes specific patterns of vision loss. By understanding the pattern of vision loss, a doctor can often determine where the problem is in the pathway. Some types of optic nerve disorders are Ischemic Optic Neuropathy, Optic Neuritis, Papilledema, and Toxic Amblyopia.

Resources

There are many valuable sources of eye disease information available.
You can also access resources over the internet such as:
American Academy of Ophthalmology
Medicine Plus (a service of the U.S. National Library of medicine and the National Institutes of Health)
Vision Health Initiative – Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Graphical Illustration of the Anatomy of The Eye

There are numerous charities dedicated to eye disease research, detection and treatment including:
The Glaucoma Foundation
The Schepens Eye Research Institute
The Miami Lighthouse For The Blind

We welcome the opportunity to discuss your long-term disability claim.
You can contact us for a free initial consultation.

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