Los Angeles Social Security Disability Law Blog

While there is no known cause for schizophrenia, researchers have found a link between a woman's gluten sensitivity and the risk of a baby developing psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia. New evidence suggests that children of women with sensitivities to gluten have a doubled risk of developing a psychiatric disorder.

Victims of severe schizophrenia are often unable to secure gainful employment and may be entitled to disability benefits in California and nationwide. According to the Mayo Clinic, risk factors of schizophrenia include a family history of the disease, an older father, exposure to toxins while in the womb, use of psychoactive drugs and exposure to extremely stressful situations.

Many disabilities are caused by severe injury to the head or spinal cord in accidents or falls. New research shows that individuals who are treated at high-level trauma centers are less likely to walk away with serious disabilities. Currently, San Diego, California offers some of the highest quality trauma care in the world, however there currently is no statewide coordinated system for high-level care.

While the research was conducted in Australia, the results are also relevant for patients in California and nationwide. The findings bolster existing evidence that patients fare better when they are treated under an organized system where hospitals, emergency rooms and state governments have coordinated plans for getting patients to appropriate treatment.

It is not surprising that computers play an essential role in monitoring individual data by The Social Security Administration and other federal agencies. Now the SSA is giving millions of American adults with Social Security numbers to access a personalized statement about their reported income and anticipated benefits. This is a convenient way for those who collect benefits or who are seeking to collect benefits to access their statements online.

The commissioner of the Social Security Administration states the new statement is easy to use and can provide additional useful information for financial planning. The online statement has been well-received by the public and the administration is encouraging participants in Los Angeles County and nationwide to check their online statement every year.

Doctors and other health professionals have paid increased attention to Type 2 diabetes, the form of diabetes linked to youth. As obesity rates have climbed in children, so has the documented incidence of Type 2 diabetes. Now experts think that the disease is more widespread and progressing more rapidly than once anticipated. The disease is also more aggressive in children and harder to treat.

Many doctors worry that those with Type 2 diabetes will also suffer complications, including loss of sight, loss of circulation, nerve damage, heart-damage and amputation. In severe cases, these symptoms can arise much earlier than before and result in permanent disability. These complications earlier in life can leave young people suffering from Type 2 diabetes unable to work and eligible for Social Security Disability benefits.

After being diagnosed with fibrolamella, a rare form of liver cancer, a woman is speaking out on behalf of cancer patients and survivors seeking disability benefits. Her grassroots work includes circulating a petition asking Congress to raise the resource limit on Supplemental Security Income be raised from $2,000 to $20,000 (to prevent the sale assets for qualification), and to take into account entire working career, not just the 10 years previous to application.

At the time of her diagnosis, a grapefruit-sized, malignant tumor was found and removed. A year later, the cancer had spread outside of her abdomen and into the chest cavity. Doctors told her that she only less than a few years to live. She has now been alive 12 years since being diagnosed with cancer, but asserts that her life has changed profoundly because of the illness.

The federal government recently issued a warning about the fiscal challenges on the horizon for the Social Security Administration. The Social Security trust fund is now projected to run out of funds in 2033, three years earlier than previously projected. This is most likely because the contributions to the fund have been drastically reduced as a result of the difficult economic climate which has diminished payroll taxes.

More alarming, however, is that the portion of the fund that pays for disability benefits is projected to be insolvent in only four years. This certainly feels like an impending disaster for California residents with disabilities who rely on Social Security disability benefits in order to survive.

A man who became disabled in 2000 after he broke his back in three places recently learned that his Supplemental Security Income benefits will be cut by $700 a month because his wife was finally able to find employment. Though he is more than willing to work, he is considered fully disabled from work, considering his condition and with his medications.

He is ineligible for Social Security Disability Insurance because he one of the eligibility requirements is to have worked for a certain period of time in the past and paid into the Social Security program, but he has been unable to work for about 10 years and made no income during that time.

Unfortunately, mistakes by the Social Security Administration are all too common. The mistakes vary from situation to situation, but many can have very serious consequences for the recipients who receive Social Security benefits.

For example, a woman's personal information ended up in the hands of a 62-year-old man who was unbeknownst to her. The man had recently applied for Social Security coverage. When he received his paper work he realized there was an attachment that included the woman's private information, including her Social Security number, her address and her mother's and father's names.