a sample disability letter

May 4, 2001

I am writing to you to reiterate my conclusion that (______) is suffering

from a disabling illness and is l00% disabled. (______) suffers from Chronic

Fatigue Syndrome. To reiterate, she has undergone extensive medical,

immunologic and physical examinations. Further neuropsychological testing

will take place next month with Dr. (______). (______) has the

characteristic symptoms of the syndrome, i.e., severely disabling fatigue,

malaise, myalgias, lethargy, weakness, nausea, dizziness, low grade fever,

joint pain, sore throats, swollen glands, headaches, mental confusion,

memory loss and impaired ability to concentrate. Since my last letter,

(______) has described intensification of problems with memory,

concentration, headaches, generalized weakness and fatigue. She continues

to be under considerable psychological distress that is greatly exacerbated

by her tenuous financial situation. Secondary depression that is a result

of her long-term illness is also worrisome. (______) is currently taking

amitriptyline as a joint therapy for that as well as for her sleep disorder

and myalgias.

At present, restricting activity is the only way to prevent exacerbation of

CFS symptoms. (______) is 100% disabled. She is capable of only mild

intermittent activity. Her ability to sustain any activity for even a few

hours a day is unpredictable. Any prolonged activity (even sedentary)

worsens her condition and can cause exacerbation of her symptoms.

Therefore, her activities of daily living are markedly limited as is her

ability to complete tasks. This illness has radically limited (______)'s

life. She has been unable to maintain work at any level and her social life

is virtually nil.

(______)'s physical symptoms have exacerbated since my last letter to your

office and this illness has proved to be emotionally devastating. She is

100% disabled at this time. Work for her is totally out of the question.

I will continue to follow (______) to investigate therapies to counteract

the devastating illness.

If I can be of any further help in support of her application for disability

benefits, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely, (______)

Note: A good alternative to the above procedure is simply to ask your

doctors to send you copies of all records that they send to Social Security.

This way, you will at least know what has been sent and will have copies for

your own records.

I think I got this from the Mass CFS site

Steve

Recommended Posts