Preparing for a Successful Cardiac Disability Hearing

I once tried a case before a very nitpicky Administrative Law Judge. The case involved a 55 year old woman who suffered from a heart condition. The woman had a pacemaker including a defibrillator. She experienced shortness of breath, chest pain and severe fatigue. She had a consistent work history over the past decade. She also had 2 treating physicians, and both doctors supported her disability claim. The woman had the following:

• Thorough medical records
• One or more functional capacity forms explaining her work activity limitations
• She was a credible claimant
• She had a long work history

Sounds like a winning case, right?

Well, the judge thoroughly examined the claimant’s medical records and stated that the test results (cardiac tests in order to measure the heart’s pumping capacity) showed very little pumping capacity limitation. However, the doctor’s notes stated that the patient indeed experienced severe limitation. So there was a discrepancy between what the test results showed and what the doctor’s notes said.

This was the first distraction in what I expected to be a relatively east and straightforward hearing. Luckily, based on experience, I was able to steer away from this discrepancy which the Judge was focusing on to focus his attention instead on how my client’s disability affected her ability to work overall.

During the hearing, I created an argument that the claimant had a severe medical problem (no matter how you looked at the evidence) and that her inability to hold down a job was due to her medication side effects, fatigue, and other related symptoms.

Fortunately, the judge issued a favorable decision. Even though this was considered an extremely stressful hearing, it only reiterated the importance of hearing preparation and things to always keep in mind when it comes to arguing for disability. Here are a few tips to consider during your hearing:

1) Argue that your ability to work for a living has been greatly reduced because of medical conditions. You are unable to be a productive worker on the job because of your medical problems.

2) When you are asked about your ability to perform day to day tasks such as standing, sitting, walking and lifting, don’t give general answers. Be specific. For example, never say something like “I can’t sit for very long.” Instead, say something like “I can’t sit for longer than 20 minutes because it gives me intense pain in my back and knees to the point where I’m unable to focus and concentrate on what I’m doing.” Also, it is important to note, if you testify that you are unable to site for more than 20 minutes without pain, don’t come to the hearing and sit calmly for 40 minutes! Try standing up and moving around throughout the course of the hearing if you feel uncomfortable.

3) When you are asked about your pain, try using scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being a mild headache and 10 being a kidney stone. Never say your pain is constantly at level 10. It is better to say that your pain is constantly at a level 5, but that it will, at times, shoot up to around 8 or 9.

The above principles may be used in a cardiac disability case or any disability case for that matter. Just remember to focus on how your condition keeps you from being able to work and you are off to a good start.

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