We here at Scott Davis, P.C. have noticed a rather troubling trend with our clients as of late. More and more people are showing up with substance abuse in their medical records (see my post “Your doctor knows more than you Think”). Most people think of substance abuse as just street drugs, but this can include alcohol abuse, and even prescription drug abuse. This is wrong on several levels, but to keep this post shorter than the tax code (and to avoid sounding too much like Mom), I’ll keep this simple: if any person making a decision on your claim deems drug and/or alcohol use a material factor in why you are unable to work they are bound by law to deny your claim. Continue reading →

You have been out of work for a while. You know for sure you will not be able to return because of your disability. Now you are thinking… “If I go to school and learn something new, maybe I could go back to work?” Continue reading →

Recently I was told by someone that he knew “for a fact” he was disabled and was astounded that the SSA denied the claim for disability benefits. The unfortunate “Fact” is that the SSA is supposed to take many things into consideration when making their determinations on disability claims but sometimes they aren’t fully aware of all the disabling conditions an individual is dealing with. For that matter, sometimes the other parties involved aren’t always clued in either. Continue reading →