Fibromyalgia

Published on: October 17, 2022

Getting your Long Term Disability Claim for Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia and Depression Approved

Chronic pain, fibromyalgia and depression are invisible.

That means that they don’t show up on any x-ray, CT Scan, MRI or other diagnostic test. It also means that nobody would know that you are suffering from chronic pain, fibromyalgia or depression simply by just looking at you. It also means that if you tells someone that you are suffering from chronic pain, fibromyalgia or depression; they might not understand; or worse yet; might not even believe that you are suffering. The world is more empathetic and understanding of someone who has a visible injury (like a cast on account of a broken arm) as opposed to someone who is suffering from chronic pain, fibromyalgia or depression.

All of these factors make living with chronic pain, fibromyalgia or depression even harder than it already is.

Adding insult to injury is when your doctor, employer, family members or long term disability insurer doesn’t seem to acknowledge or believe that you are disabled.

It’s an uphill battle. But don’t give up. Goldfinger Injury Lawyers is here to help as best we can.

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Published on: January 15, 2020

What do Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia and Depression all have in common?

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

A lot of the clients at Goldfinger Injury Lawyers suffer from Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia and Depression. It’s not easy because nobody seems to understand these conditions. More on that later.

We have expertise in handling chronic pain, fibromyalgia and depression cases which present in a variety of forms such as car accident cases, accident benefit claims, short term disability cases, long term disability cases, Canada Pension Plan Disability Appeals, dog bite cases, slip and fall cases, assault cases and bike accident cases just to name a few.

There are a few things which chronic pain, fibromyalgia and depression have in common.

For starters, they are are invisible to the naked eye. Your chronic pain, fibromyalgia or depression does not show up on any x-ray, CT Scan or MRI. There are no objective diagnostic tests which show that you have chronic pain, fibromyalgia or depression.

Normally, your family doctor or treating specialist (like a rheumatologist, psychiatrist, physiatrist or psychologist) will make a diagnosis of chronic pain, fibromyalgia and depression (depending on their specialty).

But for every specialist who will attest that you cannot function or cannot work on account of your chronic pain, fibromyalgia and depression; there will be another specialist who will say the opposite. Usually that specialist is retained by, or contracted by the insurance company in the context of an accident benefit, long term disability benefit or tort claim. Because they have been retained by the insurance company; and the insurance company is paying the cost of the assessment; you must take their findings with a grain of salt.

But despite this, too many negative reports against the Plaintiff/Claimant will create a compelling chain of denials making it harder and harder for a Plaintiff/Claimant to get the results/benefits which s/he deserves.

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Published on: October 16, 2019

Fibromyalgia Claims

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Fibromyalgia is a serious disorder characterized by widespread pain, fatigue, depression, memory loss and other symptoms which vary from person to person.

Some doctors believe in fibromyalgia.

Some doctors don’t.

The same way that some doctors believe that fibromyalgia exists and is a very real and debilitating condition; and other doctors don’t; some insurance companies accept that fibromyalgia is very real and can have a significant impact on a person’s livelihood and ability to engage in day to day activities.

Some insurance companies don’t accept that fibromyalgia is real. They will want to create a narrative that fibromyalgia is a figment of your imagination. They will hope to establish that because you cannot see fibromyalgia on any sort of objective test like an x-ray, CT Scan or MRI Report that it’s simply not there. They will also try to create the narrative that you can fight through or work through whatever pain or ailment it is that you’re experiencing.

This is a false narrative. There are hundreds of thousands of people across Canada who suffer from fibromylagia, and there are countless doctors across the country who treat people for fibromyalgia. Don’t let your insurance company beat you down and crush your hope; because this is exactly what they’re trying to accomplish.

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Published on: August 15, 2019

Brian Goldfinger on getting “mathed out” of a Long Term Disability Claim

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

The personal injury lawyers here at my law firm, Goldfinger Injury Lawyers have developed a unique term for certain long term disability cases.

We call it getting “mathed out“.

What does it mean to get “mathed out“? It means that the math is working against you to defeat your claim, regardless of the merits of your disability.

Let’s explore how long term disability cases work.

These are cases which are based in contract. That contract takes the form of an insurance policy. Often we see our claimants with group policies, which contain sections for health, dental, life, and long term disability insurance. These group policies are a perk of employment (a benefit). Had the person not been gainfully employed, they would not have been covered under the policy; hence they would have no cause of action.

Some employees don’t have any benefits whatsoever, so if they don’t have their own personal long term disability insurance, they won’t have a cause of action.

On one hand the claimant needs to be thankful that they have a policy or long term disability coverage to lean on. But on the other hand, many claimants get upset that the policy seems to work in favour of the insurer and not the other way around.

The wording contained in these policies is written by large insurers. Because large insurers write the policies, you can expect that they contain a lot of favourable clauses protect their own interests and not yours. Why would you expect an insurer to draft a policy that doesn’t work in their favour? We just don’t see this sort of thing.

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Published on: April 10, 2019

Long Term Disability Claims: Because getting cut off is hard to do (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

My law firm handles a lot of long term disability claims.

These are cases whereby large insurance companies like Great West Life, Sun Life, Manulife, Canada Life, Industrial Alliance, Desjardins Insurance, La Capitale Insurance, RBC Insurance, Co-Operators Insurance etc. cut off, cease to pay or terminate one’s long term disability benefits.

We have represented people of all ages, from all different walks of life, with different occupations. People like doctors, lawyers, nurses, teachers, postal workers, university employees, municipal/government employees, civil servants, mechanics, general labourers, janitors, casino employees, factory workers, automotive sector employees, machinists, plumbers, tradesmen, bus drivers, truckers, brick layers, retail employees, clerical/secretarial staff, bankers, and even people with cushy desk jobs who work in giant towers in downtown Toronto. The list goes on.

Some people don’t lawyer up. They try to appeal these denials or terminations of benefits on their own. Our long term disability lawyers rarely see these appeals go anywhere. It’s like going to a gun fight with a rubber knife. All the appeal does is to serve the insurance company in establishing a patter of denials and kicking the can down the road for a few months in the hopes that a limitation period lapses to prevent a Plaintiff from bringing their claim in the requisite period of time. It’s an exercise by the insurance company to give the illusion that they are treating your claim with the upmost best intentions. But the reality is that your claim was doomed to succeed in the first place. Once the insurer looks at it in a negative light, it’s very difficult to sway the insurer in the other direction to have the claim approved without the assistance of a personal injury lawyer with experience handing long term disability claims.

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Published on: April 4, 2019

Long Term Disability Tips from Brian Goldfinger for Teachers & Postal Workers (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

In the final instalment of a four-part series on long-term disability insurance, Toronto personal injury lawyer Brian Goldfinger discusses some of the unique issues that surface in LTD claims filed by educators and postal workers.

Toronto personal injury lawyer Brian Goldfinger refutes any perception that teachers and postal workers have cushy jobs as they are among the top clients he helps fight for in long-term disability (LTD) claims.

“Both jobs have generous vacations, but that’s a trade-off,” says Goldfinger, founder of Goldfinger Injury Lawyers. “When you sign up for it, there are significant amounts of stress and pressure, and nobody gives these workers their due respect.”

Teachers and postal workers share a number of commonalities, he tells AdvocateDaily.com. “Both are unionized and have access to a variety of benefits, but they’re in very high-stress, difficult jobs and they don’t get proper credit.

“They take some time off for stress, but it gets extended because their doctors or therapists believe their work environment is unhealthy for them,” Goldfinger says.

“It sounds strange because people often assume teachers are in a class of smiling, happy children, or that a postal worker has a dream job,” he says.

Goldfinger says that while many of these cases involve stress leave, physical issues are also common.

He points to a 2017 survey that found almost nine in 10 teachers have experienced or witnessed violence or harassment in the workplace.

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Published on: January 17, 2019

Chronic Pain, Fibromyalgia and Jury Cases in Ontario

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

For the 1% of personal injury cases which go to trial, the majority of those cases are tried by a Judge with a Jury.

Insurance companies automatically file Jury Notices to accompany their Statements of Defence because they know that jurors don’t like sitting through long personal injury cases. A disengaged and disgruntled juror will be less likely to side with the Plaintiff. A Judge sitting alone is trained, well versed and PAID to listen carefully to the facts. Jurors are not trained, not well versed and certainly not well paid to sit around for weeks listening to evidence. In some cases, the cost of parking, snacks and meals will outweigh the cost of the Juror’s daily stipend. Compounding the anger of a juror is the fact that many of them are employed and have to miss time from work without getting paid themselves to engage in jury duty. Nobody wins.

Jurors want to sit in on “cool trials“. What’s a “cool trial“. Think of a high profile murder case. That would be “cool” to sit in on. Or how about a violent assault, drug trafficking charge, or something involving organized crime? Anything out of a TV or movie plot would satisfy a juror’s appetite. Unfortunately, chronic pain, fibromyalgia and long term disability disputes don’t make very interesting screen plays.

Plaintiff personal injury lawyers know this. Plaintiffs themselves often do not. It’s hard for a Plaintiff to put him or herself in the position of a Judge or Jury hearing their own case. In the Plaintiff’s own mind: What else could be more important or more interesting than sitting through a 2-4 week trial to hear all about my injuries, disability and how the insurance company screwed me?

What really goes on in a juror’s mind is “who cares about this person; and; get me outta here so I can go back to my normal daily routine.” Continue reading →

Published on: August 15, 2018

How Long Term Disability Cases work in a Nutshell (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Last week’s entry of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog entitled “How Ontario Car Accident Cases and Pain and Suffering awards work in a Nutshell“ received resounding positive feedback from our readers. They appreciated how complicated legal terms and concepts were broken down in easy to understand English. This is something our law firm prides itself on.

We understand that most of our clients are NOT sophisticated lawyers with years and years of technical legal training. Most of our clients are everyday people, who have not studied law.

We do our best to make things simple to understand. Why should a car accident case, or long term disability case be spoken about like it’s rocket science? The more our clients understand, the better the lawyer-client relationship.

In that vein, we continue with our “nutshell series“. This installment will focus on how Long Term Disability cases work; along with some of the most commonly asked questions about LTD cases from our clients. If you require more information about long term disability cases, please don’t hesitate to contact Goldfinger Injury Lawyers toll free at 1-877-730-1777 or at info@goldfingerlaw.com for your free and confidential consultation.

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Published on: March 7, 2018

Long Term Disability Claims & Fibromyalgia: Facts, Fiction & Fairness (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Goldfinger Injury Lawyers has assisted countless long term disability clients with their denied LTD claims against large insurers in fibromyalgia, chronic pain and depression cases.

If you are reading this installment of the Toronto Injury Lawyer Blog Post, you likely have some questions about fibromyalgia, chronic pain, or Long Term Disability Cases in general.

If this entry does not answer the questions you may have, don’t hesitate to give us a call toll free across Ontario at 1-877-730-1777 or email Brian Goldfinger at brian@goldfingerlaw.com or our law firm at info@goldfingerlaw.com. Brian Goldfinger and our long term disability lawyers would be pleased to answer your questions, whatever they might be. All of our communication is confidential; and there is no charge; so don’t hesitate to ask away.

And with that pre-amble out of the way, it’s now on to demystifying fibromyalgia and chronic pain in the context of a long term disability claim in Ontario.

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Published on: July 21, 2017

Tips on getting your Long Term Disability Claim approved (Ontario)

By Goldfinger Injury Lawyers

Our law firm often gets calls from soon to be Long Term Disability claimants asking our lawyers to fill out their forms. We realize that the LTD application forms can be overwhelming, complex, with some hard to answer questions. Not all questions can be answered in a “yes/no” fashion.

Filling out LTD application forms is not something which our lawyers do. But, we can help give you a few tips on how to get your Long Term Disability claim a fighting chance of getting approved. Without further ado, here are Goldfinger Injury Lawyers’s tips on how to get your LTD claim approved at first instance:

1. If you want a benefit, you first need to apply for it! This seems like such a simple premise, but you would be amazed at how many people don’t understand it. Your Long Terms Disability benefits won’t just land magically in your lap without you first applying! Do you really think that an LTD insurer wants to pay you money without you not even yet applying for said benefit? LTD insurers don’t exist to give away money for nothing… There are mounds and mounds of forms which need to be submitted. And just because those forms have been submitted, doesn’t mean they will be looked at in a timely manner. Get those application forms submitted, and don’t sit around on it. There are provisions in every LTD policy our lawyers have seen with respect to the timing of the application in relation to the last day you may have worked. Waiting around on getting that application in will jeopardize that timing and may give the insurer a reason to deny your LTD claim for failure to abide by the limitation periods as set for in the LTD policy.

2. Make sure that your family doctor or specialist is on board with the LTD application. You will need a doctor or specialist to complete a medical certificate in support of your LTD application. If your family doctor or specialist doesn’t believe that your disabled, chances are the medical certificate which s/he completes will also NOT support your LTD application. That unfavourable medical certificate will give the LTD insurer a reason to deny your claim. If you have a more supportive doctor of your disability, consult that doctor for his/her assistance in completing the medical certificate.

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