Battling For Benefits

As a Registered Nurse, Kathyan Gopichand spent her professional career helping others, but when she came into my office, she needed help. When I met Kathyan, she was already homebound suffering from a myriad of medical conditions that forced her to apply for benefits with CIGNA, her employer-provided disability insurance company.

Kathyan suffered from cervical dystonia and rotator cuff tear, affecting her range of motion and upper body strength; idiopathic vertigo and dizziness, causing her to use a wheelchair due to her impaired gait and balance issues; and Fibromyalgia with widespread pain over her entire body along with extreme fatigue and memory loss. These combined conditions obviously impaired her ability to help her patients and could even potentially endanger them.

CIGNA reviewed her records from the year before her claim to see if any of her conditions were pre-existing and found that Kathyan had been prescribed medications commonly used to treat musculoskeletal conditions. CIGNA felt they had found enough ammunition and denied her claim. However, they failed to look at the reason why she was prescribed those medications, and never even looked at her other conditions that led to her inability to continue working.

Fortunately, a friend referred Kathyan to me – a former Registered Nurse – for help in fighting the denial of her claim. We obtained and dissected Kathyan’s medical records dating back to the period that CIGNA was reviewing through her then-current records and sent them along with supporting medical research to CIGNA. Armed with this documentation illustrating the entirety of Kathyan’s medical conditions and their effect on her ability to work as a nurse, CIGNA reversed their denial and paid Kathyan the disability benefits she deserved.

Kathyan says, “As the main bread winner for my family, the denial of my claim by CIGNA could have caused great financial problems for us, possibly to the point of being homeless. Claudeth and her staff were very attentive and thorough in their review of my records. Since Claudeth had been a nurse herself before becoming an attorney, she has an uncanny understanding of my medical conditions and the affect they had on my ability to work as a nurse. She fought the battle with CIGNA for me and won my fight. She was truly a God send.”

If your patients or clients find themselves in need of a medically knowledgeable attorney to fight for their disability benefits, have them contact me for a complimentary review of their claim. After all, disability is my specialty. Case Closed.