tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-63841962007-04-16T03:32:39.319-05:00Long-term Disability ClaimsBrininger LTD, a Houston, Texas based lawfirm, publishes this blog to assist claimants in getting their disability benefits.Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1132687554484114702005-11-22T13:25:00.000-06:002005-11-22T14:23:18.043-06:00Allsup, Inc. v. Advantage2000As some of you have been following on other blogs and websites the internet community has kicked up quite a fuss at Sony and its recent attempts to prevent music pirating. Click here for the blog of the person who first discovered it. Very technical. Click here for something not so technical and more current.
Sometimes things are not always, as they seem. In the recent case Allsup, Inc. v. Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1131983746375984332005-11-14T09:55:00.000-06:002005-11-14T09:55:46.396-06:00NMR (Network Medical Review's) relationship with Liberty Life Assurance Company of BostonAs most you know, NMR (Network Medical Review, Inc.) and its sister company/subsidiary perform a large number of "independent" medical reviews at the request of various insurance companies.
In Denmark, the Plaintiff's counsel, Jonathan M. Feigenbaum [JonF@Phillips-Angley.Com] propounded discovery on Liberty Life to learn how much it pays to NMR each year and how may cases NMR reviewed at Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1120181231808074752005-06-30T20:27:00.000-05:002005-07-01T09:21:53.880-05:00Labor Employment Law Blog: Federal Disposal RuleYou need to make sure that your disability lawyer has a shredder or has contracted with a shredding service to dispose of your medical records when they are no longer needed. Often lawyers make extra copies of your medical records and do not use them in your case. This new statute requires that the attorneys have a "disposal policy."
We have a shredder for small jobs-5 pages at a time or less. Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1120080305986982062005-06-29T16:25:00.000-05:002005-06-29T16:25:06.030-05:00CANCER TOPS MOST FREQUENT CAUSES OF LONG TERM DISABILITY CLAIMS IN 2004According to UNUMProvident, the leading provider of disability insurance, the following are the five leading causes of long-term disability claims:
12 percent – Cancer
10 percent – Complications of pregnancy
10 percent – Joint/muscle/connective tissue diseases
9 percent – Back injuries
8 percent – Cardiovascular disease
UnumProvident Corporation: "CANCER TOPS MOST FREQUENT CAUSES Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1120059671760346762005-06-29T10:40:00.000-05:002005-06-29T10:41:11.766-05:00MIT Weblog SurveryBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119924772152757612005-06-27T21:12:00.000-05:002005-06-27T21:12:52.200-05:00Court awards $300,000 in COBRA penaltiesPenalties for COBRA notice violations can be substantial.
A federal court in Nebraska recently
imposed penalties of over $300,000 plus attorneys
fees. Delcastillo v. Odyssey Resource Management Inc., 320 F. Supp. 2d 889 (D. Neb. 6/11/2004). Here, the court found that the participant and his family suffered particularly severe consequences as a result of the lack of health care coverage.
Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119919439916308502005-06-27T19:42:00.000-05:002005-06-27T19:47:08.186-05:00Dr. Fantasia finds fibromyalgia Plaintiff disabledWhaley v CNF Transportation, Inc. Long Term Disability Plan, C. A. No. 03-363 (Southern District of Ohio (Order Granting Plaintiff's Motion For Judgment On The Administrative Record (June 14, 2005))
In Whaley, Judge Thomas M. Rose found that the Defendant claims administrator abused its discretion. Dr. Fantasia, Plaintiff's chiropractor, opined that Plaintiff was disabled. That was the extent ofBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119733957458636962005-06-25T16:08:00.000-05:002005-06-25T16:15:54.603-05:00Letter to help you get your complete CIGNA or LINA fileI have a number of cases against Life Insurance Company of North America (LINA or CIGNA). As you know one of the first things you do when appealing a denied disability claim is request the entire file from the insurance company. LINA does not always send the entire file in response to such a request. To assist you in getting the complete file I have prepared a letter in which I identify the Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119643322799280672005-06-24T15:02:00.000-05:002005-06-24T15:02:02.830-05:00Advisory Opinion 2005-16A-MEDICAL EXPERTS CONSULTED IN CONNECTION WITH ERISA BENEFIT APPEALS NEED NOT BE LICENSED IN ANY PARTICULAR STATEAdvisory Opinion 2005-16ABlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119277738700406032005-06-20T09:28:00.001-05:002005-06-25T17:36:32.856-05:00Judge Kent denied MetLife's Motion for Protective OrderIn Jez v. Dow Chemical LTD Plan and MetLife, filed in Galveston, Texas,
Judge Kent denied MetLife's Motion for protective order. I wanted to get
information from Network Medical Review (NMR). NMR is an outfit of
physicians that find disability claimants to be "not disabled." Thus NMR
is used a lot by the insurance industry. I wanted to learn how often
MetLife uses them. Following Judge Kent's Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119277738839659452005-06-20T09:28:00.000-05:002005-06-25T17:34:19.613-05:00List of ERISA AttorneysBrininger LTD publishes a list of ERISA attorneys in case you need ERISA
assistance outside of the Fifth Circuit. If you are in the Fifth Circuit
(Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi) contact me at blair@erisa.md. Our
home page is http://www.erisa.mdYou can find the list of attorneys hereBlair BriningerBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119136525547307762005-06-18T18:15:00.000-05:002005-06-18T18:15:25.550-05:00Keller Rohrback L.L.P. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Marsh & McLennan, Inc. - Forbes.comKeller Rohrback L.L.P. Announces Class Action Lawsuit Against Marsh & McLennan, Inc. - Forbes.comBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1119134893150272432005-06-18T17:33:00.000-05:002005-06-18T18:02:56.096-05:00Court discredits Amy Hopkins, M.D. SuppositionMay v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., C.A. No. 03-5056 (N.D. Cal. Sept. 9, 2004). Judge Wilken presiding. Judge's Home Page is here
In this case, Lucky May presented evidence that she was disabled from fibromyalgia. The only evidence to the contrary in the Administrative Record was an opinion by Dr. Amy Hopkins. Judge Wilken did not credit Dr. Hopkins report:
As noted, the only evidence to the Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1118872363956017312005-06-15T16:52:00.000-05:002005-06-15T16:52:43.960-05:00Court rejects Dr. Amy Hopkins opinionFurther support for a heightened degree of scrutiny is found in Dr.
Hopkins' selective "pick and choose" approach in reviewing the medical
records in the case. Dr. Hopkins completely mischaracterizes Dr. Babins'
opinion as to the Plaintiff's ability to return to work. She states in
her correspondence of February 9, 2001: "[Dr. Babins] wrote an APS
10/23/00 which stated that [Plaintiff] was to Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1100815942878550872004-11-18T16:12:00.000-06:002004-11-18T16:12:22.876-06:00News ReleaseBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1100815912126229982004-11-18T16:11:00.000-06:002004-11-18T16:11:52.126-06:00SPITZER AND SERIO ANNOUNCE SETTLEMENT WITH NATION'S LARGEST DISABILITY INSURERBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1092422975056098052004-08-13T13:49:00.000-05:002004-08-13T13:49:35.056-05:00erisalawsinformation.com: "CRITCHLOW v. FIRST UNUM LIFE INS. CO.
Defendant's denial of insurance benefits on the basis that decedent's death was not within the scope of plaintiff's insurance policy is a wrongful denial as a matter of law where his death was accidental. "Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1092422925181282922004-08-13T13:48:00.000-05:002004-08-13T13:48:45.180-05:00erisalawsinformation.com: "[08/11] GLISTA v. UNUM LIFE INS. CO.
Defendant's denial of plaintiff's claim for long-term disability benefits on the ground that his disability was a pre-existing condition excluded from coverage was neither reasonable nor supported by the evidence. "Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1092422516794741612004-08-13T13:41:00.000-05:002004-08-13T13:41:56.793-05:00erisalawsinformation.comBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1092422353316818052004-08-13T13:39:00.000-05:002004-08-13T13:46:19.746-05:00ERISA Pension Health Care Benefits Attorneys Houston Texas TX Lawyers Brininger LTD My other website for fibromyalgia and CFS
Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1091812959247542422004-08-06T12:22:00.000-05:002004-08-06T12:22:39.246-05:00ERISAblog: Director Liability under ERISA ArchivesBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1081631023673218082004-04-10T16:03:00.000-05:002004-04-10T16:07:35.153-05:00COB CLEARINGHOUSE v. AETNA US HEALTHCARE: "COB Clearinghouse Corporation, also known as Digital Healthcare, Inc.,
Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
Aetna U.S. Healthcare, Inc.; Great West Life and Annuity Insurance Co.; Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Kansas City; Connecticut General Life Insurance Company"
Agent of employer has no standing to sue under ERISA.Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1081201063620921182004-04-05T16:37:00.000-05:002004-04-10T16:18:43.170-05:00Eighth Circuit upholds polio victim's claim for benefits. SHAW v. MCFARLAND CLINIC, P.C.
Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1080318274781177052004-03-26T10:24:00.000-06:002004-03-26T10:28:05.090-06:00I have an ERISA newsfeed for anyone that is interested.
ERISA news feedBlairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6384196.post-1079549367398021662004-03-17T12:49:00.000-06:002004-03-17T12:52:45.153-06:00Top News Article | Reuters.com: "By Tim McLaughlin
BOSTON (Reuters) - The chairman of American International Group Inc. (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research) , the world's largest insurer by market value, on Tuesday called lawyers opposed to tort reform 'terrorists' and said class-action lawsuits are a 'blight' on the United States. "Blairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08898262737764399121noreply@blogger.com