F or almost twenty years, our firm has represented chronically ill and disabled individuals trying to access health insurance coverage and disability benefits. While every few years there seems to be a new illness upon which insurers focus their attention, no illness in my experience has garnered the level of negative treatment as Lyme disease. In the last five years, the number of chronically ill individuals suffering from Lyme who have called our office has grown exponentially, to the degree that we receive at least two calls a week from individuals seeking health or disability coverage. The numbers are staggering. Even more distressing, however, is the destruction imposed upon the lives of these individuals and their families due to the denial of health or disability coverage.
I have rarely seen an illness faced with as much skepticism as Lyme disease.
My clients — hardworking individuals with families and careers — have been called malingerers, mentally ill, addicts … anything but what they are: individuals struck with a disease that the medical community has yet to find a foolproof way to diagnose and cure. Most individuals who contact us follow a similar pattern. They began experiencing flu-like symptoms, including overwhelming fatigue, which soon progressed to joint and muscle pain and worrisome cognitive limitations…… Join or login below to continue reading.
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