Not Following Your Doctor’s Orders on Medications & Treatment is a Mistake

by Editorial Board on August 4, 2010 · 0 comments

in Questions & Answers,Treatment & Compliance,Why People Are Denied

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The laws of the Social Security Administration (SSA) that are used to decide if you are disabled are detailed and complex.  However some rules are pretty easy to understand.

If you are considering filing for disability benefits it’s important that you understand that you should be doing everything you can to get well enough to work.  The people deciding your claim are likely to be more sympathetic to someone who is doing everything possible to get well, but still cannot work.  If you have given up and are not in treatment, or you are not compliant with the treatment your doctors are ordering, it could be the basis for you being denied benefits.

Social Security Prefers You Are Compliant With Treatment

Your medical non-compliance could be the basis for the Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) who hears your disability hearing to deny you.  If the ALJ can make a reasonable argument that if you took the medicine as prescribed you would not be disabled, then even if you are now disabled you could be denied.  That means the ALJ has the power to say your disability is due to your non compliance.  As with illegal drugs or alcohol abuse, if the ALJ finds you disabled but has reason to believe it’s because of dependency issues, you could be denied.

Being Sympathetic to the ALJ

You will be much better off in your hearing if you go to all of your doctor’s appointments, take your medicine as prescribed, and follow treatment guidance as ordered, rather than appear as someone who just doesn’t seem to be following their doctor’s orders.  Even if the ALJ doesn’t think your non-compliance is the reason why you are not disabled, it could cloud their impression of you, and hurt your credibility.

You need to take responsibility in this area and do everything you can to help the ALJ who conducts your hearing see that you are a reasonable person who deserves some sympathy.  You will improve your chances of winning disability benefits if you don’t give the ALJ any reasons to think you are contributing to your disability.

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