Blog:
Dabdoub Law Firm and our long term disability attorneys have successfully stood up for the rights of another client in need. A Miami woman lost 10% of her functional brain mass after a necessary craniotomy, which caused her to suffer significant neurocognitive defects. Yet CIGNA chose to terminate her LTD benefits anyway, as if she was in near-perfect health. We challenged their wrongful benefits termination with success, getting them reinstated as needed.
Details of the Craniotomy Case
After suffering an arteriovenous malformation (MVA) with cerebral embolization in 2014, our client underwent a necessary craniotomy. The procedure removed 4 centimeters of her brain, which is about 10% of her brain functional body mass. MRIs actually show a black hole in their scan results where the craniotomy was conducted.
Permanent consequences of the craniotomy our client experiences include:
- Memory loss
- Vision loss
- General confusion
- Migraines
- Depression and anxiety
Most notably, our client’s craniotomy makes it difficult for her to be aware of anything to her left half. For example, if she was hungry and wanting to check her pantry for food, then she would be likely to not even think to check items to her left. Now, imagine how complicated, or dangerous, this lasting effect would make important day-to-day tasks, like work duties or driving. Our attorneys of Dabdoub Law Firm compiled a vast amount of medical evidence to show our client’s disability, including reports from a neuro-ophthalmologist.
CIGNA Misrepresents the Extent of Her Disability
CIGNA requested that our client be evaluated by their chosen neuropsychologist, Dr. Alejanro Arias. He actually said that our client has severe cognitive impairments that prevent her from completing most forms of work. He outlined restrictions that would be necessary if she did return to work, but at no point did he outright recommend she do so. Specifically, Dr. Arias said she could not work in a stressful or repetitive environment, nor could she work alone or with others.
It appears that CIGNA took only a cursory glance at Dr. Arias’s summary, noted the proposed restrictions, and assumed our client was cleared to return to work. As such, they terminated her long term disability benefits wrongfully. We acted swiftly to challenge their decision, and convinced them to reverse their decision.
Having an Experienced Disability Attorney Matters
Because disability insurance law is complicated, it is important to get legal help from a lawyer who focuses on disability law. As a law firm built to focus on disability insurance claims, all our lawyers spend every day working to get our clients disability benefits from insurance companies. Because federal law applies to most disability insurance claims, we do not have to be located in your state to help.
If your claim for long term disability benefits was denied or being delayed by an insurance company, call (800) 969-0488 to speak with a disability insurance attorney.
We represent clients everywhere with:
- Submitting a disability insurance claim;
- Appealing a long-term disability denial;
- Negotiating a lump-sum settlement; or
- Filing a lawsuit against your disability insurance company.
Because each client’s case is unique and has different facts, results similar to those in other clients’ cases are not guaranteed.
