Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) and Social Security
Disability Benefits
By: Attorney Richard J. Lawton
Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) is an incurable, rarely treatable and
little known disorder that attacks the limbs. Its main symptom is pain and is
often unresponsive to various treatments which now exist.
Although the exact nature of RSD is poorly understood, the medical field
acknowledges that RSD imparts a major disability by virtue of the chronicity of
its pain.
If as a victim of RSD you have been disabled from engaging in substantial
gainful employment due to pain, then you may be eligible for Social Security
Disability Insurance benefits.
Federal case law has held on numerous occasions that pain alone can be
disabling in determining an individual’s inability to engage in substantial,
gainful employment.
In order to establish your disability to the Social Security Administration,
it is vital that you or your attorney prepare credible documentation of
convincing medical evidence sufficient to demonstrate that the RSD has imparted
a tragic effect on your physical and mental abilities to do basic work
activities.
By documenting the effects of RSD, one's physical and emotional function, it
is often possible to demonstrate that RSD can prevent one from maintaining
adequate concentration, attention, production and pace to meet the regular
attendance requirements of an entry level job to understand and follow
complicated instructions and to deal with usual work-related stress.
The effects of RSD can vary from mild too chronically disabling and will
deserve the time and attention of competent legal advice.
