Disability insurance companies will often turn away claimants with chronic fatigue syndrome due to a supposed lack of evidence. Even if you submit valid medical testimony from your treating physician, your short or long term disability company could make a decision based upon its own in-house doctor… even though this doctor probably never met you. Chronic fatigue syndrome’s lack of objective medical tests and physical symptoms make it especially difficult for the claimant to support their claim.
Many disability companies have drafted two year limitation provisions in the long term disability policies in order to avoid paying CFS claims for more than two years. Our lawyers know all of the tactics that the disability companies rely upon in order to deny CFS claims. You need to be prepared in order to secure your disability benefits for the long term.
Our Disability Lawyers Understand CFS
As many of our resolved cases show, the law requires insurance companies to make their decisions based on reasonable grounds. They cannot ignore recommendations from your treating physicians just because it makes the most sense for their bottom lines. They also cannot limit your benefits to a shorter period for arbitrary reasons. We have helped hundreds of claimants with CFS and know what it takes to prove your claim. The symptoms of CFS can be similar to numerous other medical conditions and we like to make sure that our clients rule out all other medical conditions in order to make sure that CFS is the correct diagnosis. There is extensive medical literature discussing CFS and our lawyers are constantly keeping up to date in order to improve our client’s chances of getting approved for disability benefits.
Our disability insurance lawyers can help you receive the benefits you deserve, whether that involves helping you fill out the initial application, appealing a denied claim, or filing a lawsuit in state or federal court.
Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Disability Claims
We regularly review disability insurance court opinions around the country dealing with Chronic Fatigue. On this page you can read case summaries, our resolved cases, CFS articles and public comments from disability claimants dealing with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
To find out if we can help with your case, you can contact our disability insurance attorneys online or via phone. During a free consultation, you can learn about your best chances for receiving chronic fatigue syndrome disability benefits. We have helped claimants seek benefits since 1979.
What Are The Common Symptoms Of People Disabled By Chronic Fatigue Syndrome?
Chronic fatigue syndrome, also known as myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS or ME/CFS), is much more than just being tired all of the time. People with chronic fatigue syndrome become so run down that it interferes with every aspect of their lives and can make it hard to function at all. Most of our clients with CFS report that attempting to work aggravates their symptoms. There are eight official symptoms for chronic fatigue syndrome:
- Fatigue
- Memory loss, difficulty focusing
- Sore throat
- Enlarged lymph nodes in armpit and/or neck
- Pain in muscles
- Pain in joints (no redness or swelling)
- New type of headache
- Feeling unrested despite adequate sleep
- Extreme exhaustion that lasts beyond 24 hours after exerting yourself mentally or physically
The condition is tentatively linked to Epstein-Barr virus, enteroviruses, human herpes virus 6 and Lyme disease. However, studies have not been able to link a specific virus as the primary cause of chronic fatigue syndrome. Chronic fatigue syndrome makes your body thinks it is fighting an infection, whether it is or not. That utilizes a lot of your body’s energy, resulting in most of the symptoms listed above.
Resources
Visit the following sites to learn more about chronic fatigue syndrome:
- Centers For Disease Control & Prevention
- Osler’s Web – by Hillary Johnson. A book dedicated to the pandemic disease that for a quarter century has been called “chronic fatigue syndrome,” and has recently been shown to have a strong statistical correlation with infection by the third human retrovirus, a gammaretrovirus called “xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus”.
Check back on this site for updated information and news stories about chronic fatigue syndrome disability claims.
Recently Resolved Cases (14)
- CIGNA overturned previous denial of waiver of life insurance premiums
- Lincoln National Life Insurance Company overturned previous denial of long term disability benefits for Wyoming Professor
- Dell & Schaefer Administrative Appeal for Cafeteria Manager Forces Lincoln to Re-Approve Disability Claim
- Accountant who was previously on claim for 7 years gets LTD Re-Approved after Appeal to Lincoln Financial Group
- LTD Claim Approved by Lincoln for Former Biomet, Inc. Employee suffering from Meniere’s Disease
- After appeal filed by Attorney Jay Symonds, Sun Life overturned its previous denial of long term disability benefits for Florida ICU Nurse
- After appeal filed by Attorney Jay Symonds, Prudential overturned its previous denial of long term disability benefits for New York Financial Control Officer
- After appeal filed by Attorney Jay Symonds, Mutual of Omaha overturned its previous denial of short term disability benefits for Colorado Senior Manager
- Administrative Appeal by Dell & Schaefer forces Principal Life Insurance Company to Reinstate ERISA Long Term Disability Claim of Former Healthways, Inc. Employee
- Appeal filed by Dell & Schaefer proves to MetLife that former Morgan Stanley Employee Should Continue to Receive ERISA Long Term Disability Benefits
- Dell & Schaefer ERISA Administrative Appeal Successful: Claimant suffering from Sleep Disorders, Depression and Fibromyalgia Now Receiving Long Term Disability Benefits
- Aetna Denies Disability Benefits after 18 Months of Payment, but Dell & Schaefer wins ERISA Appeal
- Unum issues disability insurance benefits to currency trader suffering from depression and chronic fatigue
- Podiatrist receives lump-sum buyout at pre-suit mediation with long-term disability insurer
Cases & Claim Tips (43)
- Court Orders Aetna to Pay LTD Benefits to Plaintiff Suffering from CFS
- A Judge’s 8 Reasons that Aetna Reasonably Denied Disability Benefits to Bank of America Employee
- Hartford Admits to Improper Offset, Agrees to Reimburse 10 Years of Wrongfully Withheld Money 2
- Court Upholds Sedgwick’s Denial of Benefits for Claimant with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Court Denied American General’s Motion for Partial Summary Judgment
- Neuropsychological Testing in Long Term Disability Insurance Claims
- Unum Denial of Disability to Claimant with Lyme Disease Remanded by Washington ERISA Judge
- The Institute of Medicine (IOM) Proposes New Diagnostic Criteria and name for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome 1
- After Appeal by Dell & Schaefer, Cigna overturns its decision to deny Short Term Disability Benefits
- Fibromyalgia Claimants are Finally Being Heard: California Court Rules that Prudential May Not Deny Claim Based on Lack of Objective Evidence of Fibromyalgia or Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Court rules Cigna cannot use 24 month mental health limitation to deny disability benefits 4
- Sedgwick Terminates PNC Compliance Specialist’s Long Term Disability Benefits 1
- Hartford Disability Denial of Insurance Agent with Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue is Reversed
- Tempur employee suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome sues Union Central Life for denial of disability benefits
- Wells Fargo disability claimants in Alabama and Florida file lawsuits against Liberty Life Assurance Company of Boston for unpaid long term disability benefits
- Texas claimant takes Reliastar to task for denied disability benefits
- At least five lawsuits were recently filed in Florida District Courts against Prudential for non-payment of disability benefits to deserving claimants
- CIGNA under fire in Minnesota Federal Court for termination of claimant’s disability benefits
- Five lawsuits recently filed in Florida Courts against Prudential for non-payment of disability benefits to deserving claimants 2
- Office medical specialist suffering with fibromyalgia and CFS hires Arizona Disability Attorney to sue CIGNA for denial of disability benefits 2
- Disabled Unisys network design engineer sue Aetna Life Insurance Company seeking payment of long term disability benefits
- Prudential Insurance pays disability benefits for 12 years to former Prudential employee then denies claim
- Lincoln Nebraska man suffering from fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome sues UNUM when he is denied disability benefits
- Federal Court provides 5 reasons CIGNA wrongfully denied disability benefits to man suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome
- The evolution of denying fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome claims in group long term disability policies 3
- Disability company ignores evidence of disabling back pain and Federal Court reverses disability benefit denial
- Court reverses MetLife’s denial of long term disability benefits for graphic designer suffering with fibromyalgia
- Chronic Fatigue by Trine Tsouderos
- CNN article discussing disabling chronic pain conditions for women
- Dearborn National/Dearborn Group denies long term disability benefits to woman with fibromyalgia and CFS 3
- MetLife denies chronic fatigue syndrome long term disability claim
- New York court rules that MetLife abused discretion when it denied chronic fatigue claim (Part II)
- Disability attorney wins claim for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome client against Unum Provident (Part II) 1
- Unum Provident denies short-term disability claim to woman with chronic fatigue syndrome (Part I)
- Unum Provident terminates disability benefits to woman with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) (Part I)
- Arizona Court rules Provident wrongfully terminated disability benefits to insurance manager with CFS (Part II)
- Aetna denial of long-term disability benefits for chronic fatigue syndrome upheld by Court
- Discovery requests in ERISA disability cases are found to be limited
- Federal judge orders Sun Life to re-evaluate long-term disability benefit denial
- Court orders Prudential to re-evaluate long-term disability claim of engineer suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia
- Jefferson Pilot ordered to pay disability benefits to clinical director suffering from fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue and depression
- Dell & Schaefer files lawsuit against Cigna in Hawaii to secure short and long-term disability benefits on behalf of pharmaceutical sales representative
- Truck driver denied disability benefits for chronic fatigue syndrome by Aetna
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