Expert Witness Blog
Disability insurance expert witnesses may write reports and opine on managed care, HMOs, and insurance claims. Medical expert Richard N. Podell, M.D., M.P.H. explains that for someone with fibromyalgia, it’s a difficult step to apply for disability and upsetting if an insurance company representative appears not to believe that they are actually very ill. He says the patient can improve their fibromyalgia disability claim by imagining themselves in the medical insurance examiner’s place.
Medical Expert Witness Issue #1:
Your insurance company isn’t allowed to assume that you are telling the truth just because you say so. Insurance companies have learned by hard experience with other forms of illness that a few individuals exaggerate their symptoms. Therefore, a disability insurance company has not only the right, but an obligation to satisfy themselves that the claims they pay are, in fact, valid.
Medical Expert Witness Issue #2:
Fibromyalgia pain is, by definition, subjective. No one can just look and tell for sure how you feel. In contrast, most illnesses that disability companies are used to display “objective” abnormalities that anyone can see.
People with bad backs have trouble bending; people with bad knees may limp. People with heart or lung disease can’t walk very far. EKG or chest X-ray may show damage.
However, fibromyalgia disability is different. You may look fairly normal. So, how can the insurance agent know for sure that you’re truthful?
Read more: drpodell.org.