Winning a Cancer Disability Case

The most commonly occurring cancers for men are prostate cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, bladder cancer, and cutaneous melanoma.  For women, the most commonly occurring are breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, endometrial cancer, and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. Cancer is a diverse class of disease which differ widely in their causes and biology. The common thread in all known cancers is the acquisition of abnormalities in the genetic material of the cancer cell and its progeny.
 
Many patients have a hard time winning Cancer disability under the Social Security Regulations. Because many recover within a year with treatment. And because not all patients become sick from chemotheraphy or radiation treatment. Many times patients complaints of long lasting effects such as bone thinning which over time may lead to osteoprosis and severe nerve damage to the hands and feet can all be over looked.

Because each cancer patient experience different sympytoms and side effects from treatment and as well as results these cases may require longitudinal evidence.

To Win A Cancer disability case Your impairment must be severe enough to disable you for at least 12 continuous months or so severe it will result in death. 12-months does not mean that you must have been severely ill for a year before applying for benefits. The SSA often persumes that an impairment will last a year when it has not improved after three months. If an impairment is obviously long-lasting and very severe, the SSA can make an immediate determination.

The SSA includes the possibility of death in the defination of disability because death is the most extreme disability possible. There is nothing in the Social Security Act that specifies how to mesaure the possibility of death. But the SSA does provide some guidance. If you meet the criteria of any of the cancer listings, the SSA presumes you cannnot work, based more on a poor prognosis than on an ability to do work. These cancer prognoses include a median life of 36 months.

When deciding on a cancer case the SSA considers Origin of the malignancy, Extent of involvement, Duration, frequency, and response to antineoplastic therapy. Antineoplastic therapy means surgery, irradiation, chemotherapy, hormones, immunotherapy, or bone marrow or stem cell transplantation. Surgery is refered to as antineoplastic treatment, which means surgical excision for treatment, not for diagnostic purposes. And effects of any post-therapeutic residuals.

Evidence That Is Needed

1. There must be medical evidence that specifices the type, extent, and site of the primary, recurrent, or metastatic lesion. When the primary site cannot be identified, there will be evidence documenting the site(s) of metastasis to evaluate the impairment under 13.27.

2. For operative procedures, including a biopsy or a needle aspirations generally there will need to be a copy of both the:

a. Operative note.

b. Pathology report

3. If documents can not be obtained the SSA will accept the summary of hospitalization(s) or other medical reports. They will look for details of the findings at surgery and, whenever appropriate, the pathological findings.

4. In some cases the SSA may also need evidence about recurrence, persistence,or progression of the malignancy, the response to therapy and any signifcant residuals.

Other Malignancies

When there are no distant metastases, many of the listings require that we consider your response to initial antineoplastic therapy; that is, the initial p;anned treatment regimen. This therapy may consist of a single modality or a combination of modalities (multimodal) given in close proximity as a unified whole, and is usually planned before any treatment(s) is initiated. Eamples of multimodal therapy include:

a. Surgery followed by chemotherapy or radiation

b. Chemotherapy followed by surgery

c. Chemotherpy and concurrent radiation

If Your Impairments Does Not Meet One of The Malignant Neoplastic Listings

1. If your severe impairments does not meet the criteria of any listings, the SSA will consider whether you have an impairment(s) that meets the criteria of a listing the another body system.

2. If you have a severe medically determinable impairment(s) that does not meet a listing, the SSA will determine whether your impairment(s) medically equals a listing. If your impairment(s) does not meet or medically equal a listing, you may or may not have the residual functional capacity to engage in substantial gainful activity. In that situation, we proceed to the fourth, and, if necessary, the fifth steps of the sequential evaluation process in Sec. Sec. 404.1520 and 416.920. If you are an adult, we use the rules in Sec. Sec. 404.1594 and 416.994, as appropriate, when we decide wheter you continue to be disabled.

If you or someone you know is suffering from Cancer call us immediately at 1-866-432-0382

APPLYING FOR DISABILITY WITH SCHIZOPHRENIA DISORDER

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