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The research into Covid, lingering symptoms, and treatment protocols continue today. Though medical researchers have learned a lot about this disease that suddenly appeared and caused catastrophic levels of disability and death, there is still much to learn. A new study has focused on identifying symptoms and symptom clusters to ascertain long Covid in patients. By establishing more criteria for long Covid, medical researchers are able to further study the effects of the long Covid as well as develop treatments for Covid patients. This research gives hope for improving the care that those disabled by long Covid receive as well as highlighting the severity of long Covid and its disabling effects on our workforce.

If you or a loved one is suffering from long Covid and unable to maintain work in the medical field, you need to contact a long-term disability insurance lawyer to review your claim for disability insurance benefits. While diagnosing Covid and recognizing suffering from long Covid has become easier with time, there are still many hurdles for disabled insureds to obtain their rightful disability insurance benefits due to Covid. Let an experienced long-term disability insurance lawyer handle your claim for long-term disability insurance benefits.

Seltzer & Associates has been representing clients who have been disabled by Covid since the early days of the Covid pandemic. We also have ample experience in representing physicians, surgeons, and other medical professionals who risked their own health to address the needs of Covid patients during the pandemic. Our attorneys have experience fighting for the disability insurance benefits our clients deserve due to disability from Covid, even when insurance companies were uncertain of how to handle Covid claims.

The 12 Symptoms and Study Results

The twelve symptoms identified in the recent study are:

• Worsening of health after mental or physical activity
• Fatigue
• Brain fog
• Dizziness
• Gastrointestinal issues or symptoms 
• Heart palpitations
• Changes in sexual desire or ability 
• Changes in or loss of smell and taste
• Thirst
• Chronic pain
• Chest pain
• Abnormal movements

The occurrence of these symptoms was compared across samples of adults who had or did not have prior Covid infection. Then the likelihood of a symptom was evaluated and a score was assigned to each symptom with lower scores going to symptoms that could result from several conditions and higher scores assigned to symptoms more correlated with Covid. The study participants then received scores for the totality of their symptoms, and if their score was above 12, the subject was considered to suffer from long Covid. The weighted scores do not assess the severity of symptoms or suffering but are rather used to indicate the presence of long Covid. The study also suggests that those exposed to Covid before the Omicron variant are more likely to suffer from long Covid, but those related statistics could be skewed by sampling bias as those suffering from symptoms for a significant time could be more inclined to participate in the survey.

Any of these symptoms on their own could be severe enough to result in a disabled status. Combined, the situation is exacerbated. This is especially true for those in high-stress, high-performance careers such as doctors and surgeons. Whether the symptom from this study identifying long Covid is a mental or physical symptom, it is disruptive to the ability to practice medicine and prevents medical providers from working to their full potential, necessitating the award of disability insurance benefits. If your claim for disability insurance benefits due to Covid has been denied or terminated, Seltzer & Associates can help you appeal the insurance company’s decision and obtain the benefits you deserve. 

Long Covid Disables Doctors and Physicians 

Long Covid has disabled many doctors and physicians, removing some of our most skilled medical professionals from the practice of medicine. With initial recovery from Covid, mainly consisting of testing negative and reviving some amount of physical and mental abilities to perform basic tasks, many medical providers were pushed back into the workforce to meet the demands of patient care. However, it was discovered that many people were suffering from severe impairments due to Covid for months after they were deemed “recovered.” As we have learned in recent years, long Covid symptoms did not allow full recovery and have caused more health concerns for long Covid sufferers including medical setbacks and disability.

Doctors and physicians are held to a high standard of care to protect their patients. Unfortunately, the symptoms of long Covid are disruptive to practicing medicine to the point it can become impossible to engage in the medical community given the disabling limitations of this disease.

Doctors Need to Know Their Options for Disability Insurance Benefits 

There are options when it comes to obtaining long-term disability insurance benefits. When you are purchasing your disability insurance policy, you need to consider what coverage you need and what additional policies may be available to you. Should you ever need to make a claim for disability insurance benefits from being out of work due to disability, such as long Covid sufferers are experiencing, your claim will depend on policy definitions and offerings. Doctors frequently look for policies that will afford coverage if they are partially disabled, if their disability has a mental health component, or to provide coverage if the medical professional is unable to complete the material duties of their own occupation due to disability but may be able to complete other duties. Your disability insurance benefits are there to provide you peace of mind and secure your financial well-being if disabling conditions keep you from working. Seltzer & Associates will fight for your disability insurance benefits and utilize every aspect of your policy definitions and medical conditions to obtain the disability insurance benefits you contracted for and deserve.

Schedule Your Free Consultation

If you are a medical professional unable to work due to disability from long Covid, you need an experienced long-term disability lawyer fighting for you. Contact Seltzer & Associates today by calling 888-699-4222 or completing our online contact form to schedule your free consultation for disability insurance benefits.