MEDICAL EXPERTS (DOCTORS) AT DISABILITY HEARINGS

It is becoming increasingly common for Social Security to bring a "medical expert" to a disability hearing.  There are a lot of doctors who make themselves available to testify for Social Security for a fee.  These are often doctors who have retired from medical practice and work part-time as "experts" for Social Security.

Why should a claimant cringe when walking into a disability hearing and finding that a doctor is sitting there waiting to testify?  For several reasons.

One, this persons is a Doctor.  There is an MD after his or her name.  This gives the individual a certain amount of automatic credibility that nobody else in the room has.  We've all been conditioned to believe that a doctor has superior knowledge, based on his or her education, training and experience.  You just don't argue with doctors.

Two, you have no idea what the doctor will say.  But whatever he says, the judge is going to give his testimony a lot of weight.  I've had some hearings where the doctor actually helped me win the case, usually by stating that my client meets a Social Security "Listing," which is an automatic win.  On the other hand, I've had doctors give testimony that absolutely destroyed the claimant's case, usually by stating that the claimant has a "residual functional capacity" which allows full-time work at the light or sedentary level. You just never know what the doc will say.

One thing is clear, the claimant is not going to be prepared to question the doctor or to cross examine him/her effectively.  A claimant isn't trained to go against an MD who can be very stubborn and resilient about the opinion he has just offered.

Only an attorney or advocate who is trained to cross examine medical experts can be effective.  Your attorney isn't the least bit intimidated by the doctor or the letters after his name.  The attorney will ask tough questions that the doctor may not be able to answer.  Often, a good attorney/advocate can leave damaging testimony by a doctor in ashes.

Some questions for an adversarial doctor should be.....

"Doctor, how many times have you examined the claimant?"  (The answer, None).

"Doctor, how many times have you met the claimant before today?"  (Answer:  I've never laid eyes on him before).

"Doctor, can you tell us how you are able to establish a residual functional capacity accurately, since you have never seen or examined the client?"

This is just the introduction to an effective cross-examination of the medical expert.  

If you walk into this hearing alone (unrepresented), you will be eaten alive by experts.  You won't understand most of what they say and you will have no chance of refuting the foolishness they will put forth.

But, aren't experts supposed to be neutral and objective?  Technically, they are supposed to be.  But often I have difficulty believing that they are.  If the judge wants to deny a claim, the doctor and other experts will know it and will usually provide testimony to let the judge have his or her way.  "What the judge wants, the judge gets."

Defend yourself.  Take your own legal expert with you.
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