Medical Records/Medical Evidence

 The doctor said: “doing well on current medication.”

A very interesting and telling article on medical evidence in Social Security disability cases by Attorney Julia Mariani, entitled, “The Play is the Thing,” should be read by all adjudicators, claimant representatives, personal advocates of claimants and claimants.

Mariani, who has a bachelors degree in dramatic literature, argues that critical reading skills are “directly applicable” to reviewing medical records.

This article, cited by Charles Hall in his blog, http://socsecnews.blogspot.com/, can be found in

Social Security News of The Social Security Law Section of the Federal Bar Association (pages 12-13, 23-26) at http://www.fedbar.org/Image-Library/Sections-and-Divisions/Social-Security/Winter-2016.aspx

Suicide Prevention

Every Social Security award letter, determination, decision, and notice should include information about suicide hotlines or on­line communities that provide immediate prevention aid by trained professionals

Attorney N. David Kornfeld, writing in the Social Security Law Section of the Federal Bar Association’s newsletter expressed the hope that researchers will be funded to study the issue of whether there is “an increased rate in suicides by Social Security dis­ability claimants or recipients.”

Kornfeld stated that his “working thesis continues to be that there is a suicide epidemic which is only getting worse with increased denials and increased waiting times in the Social Security disability process.” 

Kornfeld called upon the Social Security Administration to engage in suicide prevention and awareness efforts by adding information in every Social Security award letter, determination, decision, and notice. He said that every communication from Social Security should include information about suicide hotlines or on­line communities that provide immediate prevention aid by trained professionals including the National Suicide Preven­tion Lifeline (1-800-273-8255, also available in Spanish 1-800-784-2432).

This article was cited by Charles Hall in his blog, http://socsecnews.blogspot.com/

Social Security News of The Social Security Law Section of the Federal Bar Association can be found at http://www.fedbar.org/Image-Library/Sections-and-Divisions/Social-Security/Winter-2016.aspx.  See pages 10-11, 22-23.