If you’re in the middle of the application process, appealing on your own or are just looking for more information on social security disability benefits, we encourage you to subscribe to our new social security disability newsletter.

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Albuquerque Social Security Representatives – Bill Gordon and Associates

Bill Gordon and Associates has expanded to be a nationwide practice focusing on social security disability representation for our clients, but we got our start in Albuquerque. Our hard-hitting attorneys have fought for and represented many New Mexicans in their social security claims and guided them through the appeals process. For a free consulation on your disability claim, if you’re in Albuquerque, call us on our local line at 505-265-1000.

We represent clients at any stage of the social security application or appeals process, but many of our clients find us after they been denied for benefits. We can handle the appeals process for your disability claim and help you to build and document your case to the SSA. We specialize in social security benefits, so we have a significant amount of experience with the process and will do everything we can to expedite your claim and lead you to success.

If you’re in Albuquerque, Rio Rancho, Sante Fe, Farmington or Gallup and are seeking disability benefits, call us today at 505-265-1000 for a free consultation on your claim, you’ll be glad you did.

Our corporate office in Albuquerque is located at 2501 Yale Blvd. S.E., and we’re on the 2nd floor. If you’re looking for the social security field offices in Albuquerque, please visit our social security office locator page for the Albuquerque area.

Is it possible for somebody to be able to work and not be able to work, at the same time?

Surprisingly, yes. Here’s some background.

Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, and possibly under other state or local laws, your employer must provide you with accommodations (such as a wheelchair ramp, for example) that assist you in doing your work, unless your employer can demonstrate that doing so would cause undue hardship. Whether an employer is required to provide a particular accommodation or not is a complex area of law.

Although employers are generally required to provide accommodations only to qualified employees (that is, those who can work), and Social Security disability benefits are available only to those who are incapable of substantial gainful employment (that is, those who can’t work), the Supreme Court has ruled that applying for Social Security benefits does not automatically exclude you from the protection of the Americans with Disabilities Act.^[1] This is because there are workers who are able to work only with accommodations from their employers. If you believe that you may fall into that category, then in order to preserve your rights under both sets of laws, it is very important that you obtain legal advice.

To preserve your claim, it is also important to be honest at all times. Our firm can assist you with your application for Social Security disability benefits while you continue to seek accommodation from your employer or former employer.

^[1]See Cleveland v. Policy Management Systems Corp., 526 U.S. 795 (1999).

The hard hitting attorneys of Bill Gordon and Associates have arrived in Detroit!

Bill Gordon and Associates has expanded to be a nationwide practice focusing on social security disability representation for our clients. We handle clients statewide in Michigan, but have decided to focus on servicing Detroit’s 900,000 residents as one of our top priorities. If you need help with your disability benefits claim in the Detroit area, call us toll-free today for a free consulation: 1-866-646-0626.

Our Social Security Representatives now serve Detroit!

We represent clients at any stage of the benefits process, but many of our clients find us after they been denied for benefits. We can handle the social security appeals process for your disability claim and help you to build and document your case to the SSA. We have a significant amount of experience with the social security benefits process and will do everything we can to expedite your claim and lead you to success.

If you’re in Detroit, Dearborn, Hamtramck, Inkster, Monroe, Port Huron, or Wyandotte and have been denied for disability benefits, call us toll free today at 866-646-0626 for a free consultation on your social security claim and to speak with one of our social security disability lawyers.

Detroit’s social security disability office is located in the Patrick J. McNamara Federal Bldg. at 477 Michigan Avenue in Detroit, suite number 900. If you’d like to contact this social security office directly, their number is (313) 226-2500.

• downloading the form, filling it out, signing it, and mailing it, or
• filing your appeal directly on the Social Security Administration website. If you have trouble filing online, then call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213, Monday through Friday between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

You can file the appeal paperwork yourself. Remember that you also have to file supporting documentation: you must complete a new Disability Report and a new medical records release form.

Do not wait until the last minute to file an appeal. The web site appeal process is not available 24 hours, and mail is sometimes slow. Although the administrative law judge who is assigned to your case can grant an extension if your appeal is accompanied by a “good cause” statement, the judges vary greatly in their willingness to find that you had good cause for missing the deadline, and most extension requests are denied but only after a long wait.

Item instructions for the hearing request form

When you fill out the appeal paperwork, on the hearing request form:

2. If you are applying for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB) based on somebody else’s work record – for example, if you are applying for family benefits, you should indicate, under item 2 of the appeal form, the name of the person on whose work record your application is based. If you are applying based on your own work record, then leave this blank.
6. If you have new medical records in your possession or will be able to obtain it within 10 days after filing your appeal paperwork, then select “yes” under item 6, and indicate the name and address of the doctor who gave you these records. Otherwise, you can leave item 6 blank (neither checking “yes” nor “no.”)
7. Under item 7, we strongly recommend that you check the box next to where it says “I wish to appear at a hearing.” You should select the other option (”I do not wish to appear at a hearing and I request that a decision be made based on the evidence in my case”) only if specifically advised to do so by an attorney. If you are so disabled that you cannot possibly travel to a hearing, you can still select “I wish to appear at a hearing” and submit the appeal paperwork, then please call us at 1-800-819-8123.

What happens at this stage?

The Social Security Administration (SSA) field office sends your file to the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review (ODAR), a separate department within the Social Security Administration. Sometimes ODAR may have a local office in the same building as the SSA field office, but ODAR is administered independently and is not under the control of the field office manager. ODAR is well known for two things:

• It is independent. The administrative law judges within ODAR are required to be neutral. You are very likely to get a fair hearing at this stage; indeed, more than half of all meritorious claims decided by administrative law judges are decided favorably. The administrative law judge will decide your case de novo, meaning that he or she owes no deference to the disability determination service.
• It is slow. So many cases are denied at the initial and reconsideration levels, and the hearing level is so thorough, that it may take over a year for a hearing to be scheduled in your case. The delay varies geographically; in some states the delay is so short that disabled people and their lawyers do not have sufficient time to prepare their case, and in other states the delay may be longer than two or even three years. To reduce this variation, some cases are transferred between different local ODAR hearing offices.

There are two ways to avoid the backlog, but both methods work only if your disability is severe:

• At the initial and reconsideration levels, make sure the Disability Determination Service has access to the medical information needed to decide your case. If your disability is so severe that your doctor determines you cannot work, then be sure your doctor knows about the listings, and have your doctor document his or her findings thoroughly in your medical records. Your doctor can be a valuable ally at this stage. Also cooperate fully with any requests from the Disability Determination Service (DDS) for you to attend a “consultative examination”; such requests mean the DDS needs more information to decide your case, and failure to appear can result in loss of your case.
• Write to your representative in Congress, or to one of your Senators. Your letter should be in writing and addressed to the Representative’s or Senator’s local (district) office; contacting them through the Internet is recommended only for expressing opinions, not for requesting help. If you have a particularly compelling situation then writing to them may cause the Social Security Administration to consider your case faster. It will ordinarily not affect the eventual outcome of your case.

After your case reaches the Office of Disability Adjudication and Review, you should receive a notice in the mail. After a period of time that varies between a few days and a few years – during which you should retain an attorney if you have not already done so – your case will be assigned to an administrative law judge, and you will receive a second notice with a time and place for you to appear before the judge. You should take great effort to be on time for the hearing, because judges’ willingness to excuse tardiness varies greatly. If the judge dismisses your case because you failed to appear, this can result in complete loss of benefits. If you are too sick to appear before the judge, notify your attorney immediately. In some cases the attorney may be able to represent you in your absence, but if your attorney does not know what is going on then you are likely to lose your case. (If you are running late, then be sure to give your attorney an accurate estimate of when you will be there, because if your attorney says you will be there at a certain time and you do not show up, the judge may find that you are not credible, or may simply dismiss your case.)

It is at the hearing stage that an attorney can do the most good. First, the hearing stage is where the probability of success is most favorable to claimants. Second, the hearing stage is also where the probability of success is closest to 50/50. Third, except in cases where you already receive benefits and the government wants to stop paying you, the hearing is the only stage where you will personally appear before the adjudicator in your case. If your case pertains to your medical eligibility to start receiving benefits, all levels of appeal both before and after the hearing stage are decided based on a written record rather than on a face-to-face “trial.” You need an attorney to persuade the administrative law judge that you are not one of the 30% of claimants whose cases are not meritorious.

After the hearing stage, an attorney becomes even more important, but your chances of winning fall dramatically unless you received an unfair hearing. The Federal courts give great deference to decisions of adjudicators within the executive branch of the U.S. government if they are independent, as are Administrative Law Judges.

If you wait until you receive the actual Notice of Hearing before you retain an attorney, the attorney may ask to delay the case. You should still retain an attorney, because without one you may lose your case, but be aware that most attorneys need approximately four months to prepare for a hearing. The reason for this is that your attorney needs to review your medical records carefully, and the medical records of a disabled person may exceed 200 pages in length. After reviewing these records, your attorney may require additional medical records to be obtained from all doctors whom you have seen regarding your disability. Large hospitals sometimes take weeks or months to process medical record requests.

Finally, it is to your advantage to retain an attorney who has experience in Social Security disability claims, or who has a high degree of knowledge of medical terminology. Your attorney must use the medical records to prove that you cannot work, and Social Security disability is a highly specialized area of law. When choosing an attorney, ask about the total number of hearings the prospective attorney has won. Call us at 800-819-8123 to schedule a free consultation.

Next level: The Appeals Council

If your disability “meets or equals” one of the Social Security Administration’s medical listings, then you very likely are unable to work, and therefore, your claim should have a better chance of being approved. Initial decisions are based, in part, on your medical records. In addition, sometimes the disability determination service or the Social Security Administration may ask you to attend a “consultative examination,” where a doctor examines you specifically for the purpose of determining whether you are disabled.

To maximize your chances of a favorable decision from the disability determination service:

• If you are severely disabled and your doctor thinks you “meet or equal” a listing, then ask your doctor to provide a copy of your medical records to the Social Security Administration or to the disability determination service.
  • To find the address to send the records to, call the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 (TDD 1-800-325-0778).
  • If you are a Bill Gordon client, you can send the medical records to us, and we will send them to the appropriate agency on your behalf.
• If you are terminally ill and your records clearly indicate the severity of your condition, then ask your doctor to provide a copy of the medical records to you directly, and you can include them with your application.
  • if you apply in person or if the Social Security Administration asks you to come in for a face-to-face interview, you can bring a copy of your medical records with you.
  • If you apply over the phone, you can mention to the representative that you already have copies of medical records, and offer to send the copies in.
  • If you are a Bill Gordon client, please call us at 1-800-819-8123 to find out the address where you should send the records.
• See your doctor as often as is necessary for the proper treatment of your condition. Some people suffer for long periods of time without seeking medical assistance, but the Social Security Administration thinks that anybody who is really disabled will be seeking treatment for their condition.
• If you receive a notice asking you to undergo a consultative examination:
  • Keep the notice, so you will know the date, time and place; however, if you are a Bill Gordon client, you can also find out the time and place of the exam by calling us.
  • If you can’t attend, then follow the instructions on the notice to request that the exam be rescheduled. If you have trouble arranging for an agreeable time and place, then call us.
  • During the examination, be cooperative; if there is a problem between the doctor and you, or if the exam is not thorough, then call us at 1-800-819-8123 for assistance.
  • Sometimes it is possible to get your own doctor to do the consultative examination; call us for more information.
• Be honest always.

Disabilities that are less severe are harder to prove. Your disability must prevent you from working in order for you to be awarded benefits.

Social Security Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income are not the only benefits that are available for the disabled. You may also have private long-term disability insurance through a recent employer, for example. Some of these private insurance plans require their members to apply for Social Security Disability Benefits even though the private insurance plans generally have a less rigorous definition of “disability,” or cover partial disability (which SSI/DIB do not). The fact of them requiring this is highly controversial; feel free to contact our firm for advice if you have any questions.

If you became disabled as a result of serving in the United States Armed Forces, you may be eligible for veterans’ disability benefits. Because some veterans’ benefits are available for partial disability, whereas Social Security provides benefits only in the case of total disability, it may be easier to gain veterans’ benefits than Social Security disability benefits. A pension is available for veterans with limited income who are either permanently and totally disabled or are at least 65 years of age. Contact the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs at 1-800-827-1000 for more information.

State governments often provide vocational rehabilitation services that may assist you in returning to work. If you are able to work, we recommend that you contact the vocational rehabilitation service in your state for more information. The Social Security Administration maintains a list of government-sponsored vocational rehabilitation services, work incentives planning and assistance programs, and protection and advocacy programs. Your local or county government may also be able to provide you with medical or financial assistance.

The “trap” hidden inside workers’ compensation

If you are disabled as a result of your work, you are probably eligible to receive workers’ compensation benefits. Contact your state government for information. Please note that receiving workers’ compensation benefits may affect the amount of Social Security benefits you can receive; specifically, the sum of public disability benefits including Social Security Disability Insurance and Workers’ Compensation (but not Supplemental Security Income) benefits payable to you and your immediate family generally cannot exceed 80% of your “average current earnings.” The calcuation of “average current earnings” may be complex in some cases, so please contact a lawyer for more information.

If you were laid off from a job, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits. You apply for unemployment benefits through your state government. Generally, in order to receive unemployment benefits, you must be able and available to work, whereas to receive disability benefits, you must be unable to work. If you were laid off and are not sure whether your medical condition allows you to do other work, consult with your physician and, if still in doubt, feel free to contact a lawyer.

Finally, if you are a Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applicant, you must inform the Social Security Administration if you are eligible for any other benefits or payments. Generally, you should apply for any other benefits you may qualify for. If the Social Security Administration tells you to apply for a benefit, you must do so.

This list is not exhaustive. There may be other benefits you may be eligible for. Contact your local government or other local organizations for more information.

Social Security Disability Insurance benefits work much the same way as Social Security retirement benefits, in that if you work, you pay a substantial amount of money as Social Security tax. By paying Social Security tax, you earn “work credits,” by which you become legally entitled to receive benefits; however, the number of credits required differs based on whether one is applying for retirement benefits or disability benefits. A worker can earn up to four “work credits” per year. The exact number depends on how much money you make; in 2009, for example, you would receive one work credit for every $1090 you make, up to a maximum of four credits for the whole year. If you have earned 40 “work credits,” then when you reach retirement age you will be eligible for retirement benefits.

For the “work credits” to count towards disability benefits, however, they generally must have been earned within the last 10 years. The Social Security Administration website explains how many work credits you need.

The Initial Level

How to Start the Process

There are three different methods to apply for Social Security disability insurance benefits and Supplemental Security Income for adults.

• If you are able to, you can visit your local Social Security office. You can visit the Social Security office any time when it is open, but to reduce the chance that you will have to make more than one visit, we recommend that you call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213 to schedule an appointment first.
• If you are an adult, applying for yourself, you can apply online.
• You can apply over the phone by calling the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213 (TDD 1-800-325-0778).

The Social Security online form cannot be used to apply for children’s benefits.

Our attorneys recommend that most clients start the initial application process over the phone.

After the phone call

To complete the initial application, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will either call you back or schedule an appointment for an initial interview. During this interview, you will be asked questions that will assist the Social Security Administration in determining your eligibility; for example, you may be asked about your employment history, and your medical condition.

The Social Security Administration provides a convenient list of documentation or supporting information you should try to bring if you are asked to come in for a face-to-face interview. (If you are applying on behalf of your minor child, a separate list is provided.) If you do not have the requested documentation, you can provide it later.

What happens next?

The staff in the local Social Security Administration (SSA) office will make an initial determination regarding the non-medical aspects of your eligibility; for example:

• if you applied for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits (DIB), do you have sufficient work credits?
• If you applied for Supplemental Security Income, are your income and assets low enough?

If you meet these non-medical requirements, your case will be sent to the disability determination service. If not, your claim will be denied. In addition, if you currently work and earn more money than the “substantial gainful activity” amount, your claim may be denied at this point, but more commonly, it will be sent to the disability determination service.

Disability Determination Services

If you have sufficient work credits for Social Security Disability Insurance Benefits or if your income and assets are low enough for you to get Supplemental Security Income, the Social Security Administration sends your case file to the Disability Determination Service (DDS) that covers your geographical area. In most states, the DDS is an agency of the state government; for example, if you are in Albuquerque, your case will be sent to the New Mexico disability determination service, which is part of the state government’s Division of Vocational Rehabilitation. (In certain places the Social Security Administration may route your case to a different DDS, or may perform the initial disability determination internally.)

Once the case reaches the Disability Determination Service, it is assigned to an adjudicator, who contacts your doctor to obtain medical records. The Disability Determination Service will then perform the five steps of determining disability; if your medical records do not prove that you are disabled, then the DDS will ask you to go to a consultative examination, in which a doctor examines you at government expense. Whether or not there is a consultative exam, another doctor who works for the DDS will make a medical determination of the severity of your disability. If your disability is severe, but not severe enough to meet or equal a listing, the adjudicator assigned to your case will determine whether the condition you have is severe enough to prevent you from doing your past relevant work, and whether it is severe enough to prevent you from doing any substantial gainful work at all. The Disability Determination Service then issues a decision and returns your folder to the Social Security Administration.

Before you are notified of the decision, the Social Security Administration may review or modify it. Thus, even though the initial decision is made by the Disability Determination Service, the Social Security Administration is responsible for it. Congress has mandated that at least half of all favorable decisions be reviewed by SSA before being issued.

Next step: Reconsideration

When the walls of your arteries are damaged or if there is an excess of lipids (fat and cholesterol) in your blood, these lipids may enter the arterial walls, causing further damage. The body dispatches macrophages (white blood cells) to repair the damage; the macrophages ingest the cholesterol but do not necessarily repair the damage, as a result of which a mixture of macrophages, fat and cholesterol accumulates inside the arterial wall, forming a deposit known as a “plaque.” This condition is known as atherosclerosis, and falls under the larger category of arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries due to any cause).

If arteriosclerosis continues to progress, for example if fat or “bad cholesterol” (low-density lipoprotein) levels in the blood are higher than normal, then a number of complications can occur:

• The plaque can just keep getting larger and larger, resulting in a narrowing of the artery.
  • If the artery is in the heart, this can result in angina.
  • If a clot formed elsewhere in the body moves to the location of the plaque, a more serious blockage can form; if in the heart, this can result in a heart attack, and if in the brain, it can result in a stroke.
• If the thin outer layer of the plaque ruptures, a blood clot may form at the site of the plaque.
  • if the plaque is in an artery of the heart and the clot remains in the heart, then a heart attack occurs.
  • if the plaque is in the brain and the clot remains in the brain, then a stroke occurs.
  • the clot may move to a different location and block a blood vessel somewhere else.

The plaque need not increase in size continually; sometimes, especially if you were to go on a diet, receive medical treatment, or start an exercise program under the supervision of your doctor, the plaques may stop growing, or even shrink. The greatest danger is if a plaque ruptures, because then a clot may form inside the artery, causing blockage and resulting disability. The same methods (diet, exercise and cholesterol-lowering medical treatments) that are used to reduce the size of plaques or to prevent them from growing larger are believed also to reduce the probability of rupture. The discovery of the role of plaque rupture in arterial disease is one of the major recent advances of medical science.

Angina pectoris

Angina pectoris is a condition manifested by discomfort, pain or a squeezing sensation in the chest. The nature of the feeling varies; WebMD has a list of heart-disease symptoms that require you to contact a doctor. Angina is caused by a narrowing of the coronary arteries that feed the heart. The artery may narrow either because of a spasm of the muscle in the arterial wall, or because of a fatty plaque. Narrowing by plaque is more common. If untreated, angina may lead to heart attack. Also, the pain of angina (in which the blood supply of the heart muscle is partially blocked) and of heart attack (in which heart muscle dies) is very similar, so all patients with chest discomfort are urged to seek medical diagnosis and treatment as soon as possible.

If angina persists in spite of compliance with medical treatment, and if certain diagnostic findings are present, then the disease can be considered to be disabling. These diagnostic findings are highly technical, so only a doctor can interpret the results. However, if your doctor says you cannot work, an attorney can assist you in asking your doctor the right questions so that your medical records will contain the documentation required to support a claim for disability benefits.

Heart attack

A heart attack occurs when an artery in the heart is blocked completely or to an extent that causes heart muscle to start to die. The majority of deaths that occur in the United States are caused by heart attacks. Heart attacks can cause symptoms very similar to angina; WebMD maintains a list of symptoms that may indicate a heart attack and therefore require you to call an ambulance.

A heart attack is a disabling condition, but in some cases there is recovery in less than a year and in other cases death results. Treatment will reduce the possibility of ventricular fibrillation, a deadly heart rhythm disturbance that may occur within a few hours or less after the onset of symptoms. In spite of treatment, a heart attack sometimes results in the inability to work for a year or longer. If certain diagnostic findings are present, the Social Security Administration may presume that you are too disabled to work. Because the diagnostic evaluation is complex, only a doctor can determine whether the Social Security Administration’s criteria are present or not. If a heart attack is expected to result in disability, then an attorney can advise you on what documentation your doctor needs to provide in order to prove that you are eligible for disability benefits. You may also consider printing out the listing and giving it to your doctor. Be aware that even if your condition doesn’t meet or equal the listing, it probably causes “exertional impairments” that may make it hard to work. Trying to prove “exertional impairment” is an uphill battle in which the assistance of an attorney may be very valuable.

Arrhythmias

Arrhythmias, or irregularities in heartbeat, range from the harmless to the deadly. In order to understand arrhythmias you must first have a basic knowledge of the heart’s electrical conduction system. And to understand the conduction system, it may be useful to know about the anatomy of the heart.

As you may know, your heart consists of four “chambers”: the right atrium (also known as the right auricle), the right ventricle, the left atrium (also known as the left auricle) and the left ventricle. The heart also contains valves that cause the blood to flow in only one direction when the chambers of the heart contract.

Blood enters the heart from the rest of the body through the right atrium, which pumps it into the right ventricle. The right ventricle then expels the blood into the pulmonary arteries, which distribute the blood to the lungs where the red cells of the blood then pick up oxygen. After returning from the lungs through the pulmonary vein, the blood re-enters the heart through the left atrium, which pumps it into the left ventricle. The left ventricle then pumps the blood out to the rest of the body.

In the right atrium, there exists a small patch of highly-specialized tissue known as the sinoatrial (SA) node. The cells in the sinoatrial node have the ability to produce rhythmic electrical pulses. [These pulses are not like electrical currents that flow through wires; rather, they are a complex phenomenon that involves ions (charged particles) and the polarization and depolarization of membranes. They also differ somewhat from nerve impulses, with which you may be more familiar.] The pulses from the sinoatrial node cause the contraction of the atria (plural of atrium), and also are transmitted to another bundle of specialized tissue known as the atrioventricular (AV) node. At the AV node the electrical impulses are delayed briefly and then are distributed to the ventricles of the heart. The atria and the ventricles contract at different times, in order to optimize the pumping effect that causes blood to flow through your body.

Arrhythmias can occur when any part of the electrical conduction system is blocked. They also can occur if a beat starts anywhere other than in the SA node. There are many different kinds of arrhythmia, only a few of which are described here.

The most common arrhythmias are premature atrial contractions and premature ventricular contractions. These are usually experienced as a “skipped” or “extra” beat. Only your doctor can tell whether these are serious or not. Premature contractions are not disabling, and in many cases are not serious at all, but they should be evaluated by your doctor in order to make sure they are not a sign of a more serious problem (such as arteriosclerosis) that may deteriorate into other, more dangerous, arrhythmias.

Bradycardia is a condition in which the heart beats too slowly. It can have a variety of different causes, and should be evaluated by a doctor. In some cases it is harmless.

Heart block is a condition where electrical impulses flow from the atria, through the AV node, to the ventricles either too slowly, or not at all. It prevents the proper synchronization of the different parts of the heart, resulting in inefficient pumping of blood. It causes “exertional impairment” (the inability to do physical exercise or labor), and must be evaluated and treated by a doctor because if left untreated it may eventually result in death.

Atrial (or supraventricular) tachycardia is a condition in which your heart beats too fast. It should be evaluated by a doctor. Atrial flutter is a condition in which the atria beat at an extremely fast rate, so fast that the atria do not function properly. It can be thought of as being “in between” atrial tachycardia and atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is a condition where the random electrical activity occurs in the atria, resulting in the inability of the atria to pump blood. It is a dangerous condition that may result in the formation of blood clots that may move to the brain, causing stroke. It may also deteriorate into other dangerous arrhythmias, but it does not result in immediate death, because the AV node can generate impulses that cause the ventricles to continue to pump blood.

Ventricular tachycardia is a condition in which electrical impulses start abnormally in the ventricles. These abnormal impulses override the signals from the SA and AV nodes and cause the ventricles to beat extremely fast, and not in proper synchronization with the atria. There are two kinds of ventricular tachycardia: with or without “hæmodynamic instability.” This simply is an indicator of the severity of the condition: “hæmodynamic instability” is another way of saying that the heart cannot pump blood. Either type of ventricular tachycardia is a life-threatening emergency requiring immediate ambulance transport. The most common symptom is lightheadedness or fainting.

Ventricular fibrillation is a condition in which random electrical impulses cause the ventricles of the heart to quiver instead of to pump blood. This causes immediate unconsciousness, followed by a deterioration in breathing, and death. It is often caused by a heart attack; indeed, the reason that a heart attack is so deadly is that it may cause either ventricular fibrillation or congestive heart failure. The treatments for ventricular fibrillation are CPR and defibrillation, followed by advanced hospital care to resolve the cause of the problem. (Although most ambulances in the United States carry defibrillators which can restart the heart at the scene of an emergency, it is absolutely necessary to be transported to the hospital because if the root cause of the problem is not resolved, then it is likely to recur within a very short time. The most common root cause of ventricular fibrillation is heart attack; all causes of ventricular fibrillation require in-hospital medical treatment.) The probability of survival after ventricular fibrillation deteriorates with every minute of time that elapses between onset and successful defibrillation. In recognition of this fact, most communities have purchased defibrillators for their fire engines, and some communities have purchased defibrillators for their police since police or fire equipment may arrive at the scene of a “911″ call sooner than an ambulance. The urgency of resuscitation in case of ventricular fibrillation is one reason why you should always yield to emergency vehicles when driving.

Pulseless electrical activity is a condition in which the heart stops beating but an electrocardiogram shows a heart rhythm that may even be normal. Because the heart isn’t beating, however, death may be imminent unless the root cause of the condition is resolved quickly. The proper diagnosis of the root cause is a very complex process that requires an extremely high degree of medical judgment.

Asystole is a condition in which the heart stops completely. It is denoted by a “flatline” on an electrocardiogram. Survival after asystole is rather uncommon, but may be possible if the root cause of the asystole is resolved immediately.

What does arrhythmia have to do with Social Security?

Arrhythmias, as described above, may be disabling. In some cases your doctor may advise you not to perform certain types of work, because stress from work may precipitate a worsening of the arrhythmia. The Social Security Administration’s medical listing for arrhythmia is simple. If it causes you to faint or lose consciousness repeatedly, and is documented by Holter monitoring or other diagnostic techniques, and does not respond to prescribed medical treatment, then you are disabled. (Unfortunately, arrhythmias severe enough to cause loss of consciousness may also cause death.) If you don’t meet or equal this listing, arrhythmias may still cause exertional (or even non-exertional) impairments that may make it hard or impossible for you to work. Your lawyer can provide a “residual functional capacity” form for your doctor to fill out that will explain how your impairments relate to the Social Security Administration’s regulations pertaining to inability to work.

Heart failure

Heart failure is a chronic condition in which the heart is unable to pump blood effectively. Heart failure comes in two kinds: systolic and diastolic.

In systolic heart failure, the heart is too weak to expel the proper amount of blood when it contracts. Systolic heart failure is measured by a number called “ejection fraction,” which is simply the percentage of the blood in a ventricle that is expelled when it contracts. An ejection fraction of 30% or less, when accompanied by certain other signs or symptoms, is presumptive evidence of disability. An ejection fraction of 30%-40% may also be associated with systolic heart failure. A normal heart will produce an ejection fraction of 50% or more; however, an ejection fraction of 50% or more does not necessarily mean the heart is normal. For example, a heart with diastolic failure may have a normal or even an elevated ejection fraction.

Diastolic heart failure occurs when the muscle of the heart becomes harder than normal. The heart does not fill correctly when the muscle is not contracting; as a result, even though the percentage of the volume of the heart ventricle that is ejected may be normal, the total volume may be too small.

Both systolic and diastolic heart failure have very similar symptoms, but the treatments are very different. In both cases it is common to use drugs, but most drugs to treat systolic failure will make diastolic failure worse, and most drugs used to treat diastolic failure will make systolic failure worse.

A heart attack can cause ventricular fibrillation (which leads to death) directly, or it can cause heart failure. Heart failure can also cause ventricular fibrillation, or it may cause death directly.

There are two ways in which heart failure may qualify you for Social Security disability benefits (assuming you also meet the “technical,” or non-medical, requirements): you can either have a disease that is severe enough to meet or equal the listing, or you may have exertional impairment. All patients with heart failure have exertional impairment, but not all patients with exertional impairment are disabled; rather, exertional impairments are evaluated by the Social Security Administration according to a set of “grids” which dictate a certain result based on your age, your education and your work experience (the better your education, the less likely you are to get benefits; the greater your age, the more likely you are to get benefits). A disease generally has to be very severe in order for somebody to “meet or equal” a listing, and if you don’t meet or equal a listing then the “grids” are designed to make it very hard to get benefits unless you’re either of advanced age or uneducated.

The secret of the grid

One of the secrets of the “grids” is that somebody who is non-disabled at the age of 54 or lower may be found to be disabled at the age of 55 or higher; some claimants have even been found to be non-disabled by the disability determination service in their state and then, after appealing, are found to be disabled by an administrative law judge merely by virtue of the fact that the claimant turned 55 while waiting for their hearing.

If you’re not willing to wait until you’re 55 years of age, you probably will need a lawyer to prove your case. Call the law offices of Bill Gordon at 1-866-646-0626 and speak to a live human being today!