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GETTING A NEW DOCTOR TO SUPPORT A DISABILITY CLAIM

Your attorney gives you a form to have your family doctor complete to support your disability claim.  Your doctor refuses, saying, "I don't ever complete these forms for my patients."  Can you get a new doctor to complete the form for you?

The answer is, Yes you can, but it may not do any good.

20 CFR  404.1527 stipulates how much weight will be given to a doctor's opinion.  The following factors are considered by the decision maker on your claim:  A doctor's opinion may not be manufactured out of broadcloth.  It must be supported by objective data, such as laboratory tests, X-rays, MRIs or other imaging studies.

1.  Supportability.  Is this doctor's opinion supported by his or her own medical evidence and by objective medical evidence from other doctors in your medical record?

2.  Nature and Extend of the Treating Relationship.  If this doctor has seen you only one time (to complete the form), he or she does not have a treatment relationship with you.  This will probably cause Social Security to give the doctor's opinion very little weight.

3.  Consistency.  Is this doctor's medical opinion consistent with the other evidence in your medical file as a whole?  If not, his or her opinion may not be given very much weight.

There may be situations where there is value to having a consulting doctor provide an opinion about your medical condition.  In these situations, it is preferable that the following occur:

  • The consulting doctor is a specialist practicing in the field of your impairment.
  • The consulting doctor examine you more than one time, if possible.
  • The consulting doctor uses laboratory tests, X-rays, MRIs or other imaging to validate his/her conclusions.

 

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