Are we obligated to fill out disability forms?

Forms, forms, forms They multiply like worms They smash our day When they come in storms Forms, forms, forms. They fill our day And won’t go away They sow like corms Forms, forms, forms For a future that’s alive We will push and strive And fill them with weary norms Forms, forms, forms. I invite Dr. Ted Jablonski to sing this one to be our medical anthem. Although I am doing my best to make these forms my friends, I still advise patients that if they do not qualify, they will end up paying for their forms without receiving anything, so I let them decide whether to go ahead or not, however, the disability form might be different. It is not uncommon for patients to try every avenue to convince us that they are disabled or to make themselves qualified. I was told by a psychiatrist that we are only forms fillers, not judges, and as such, we must fill out the disability forms when patients ask for them. Read: Dr. Jabir Jassam: Doctors without protection Mr. A is 43 years old, unemployed, married with five children The man has been addicted to pornography for 14 years, spends the entire night watching porn, sleeps during the day but still suffers sleep deprivation, and lives on social assistance and child support. I had long time ago diagnosed him with a personality disorder. He saw a psychiatrist who gave him the same diagnosis. Mr. A declined treatments in every visit and wanted to “work on himself without medications or psychotherapy.” In one night, he crashed and became delusional. He went to the ER and a psychiatrist started him on antipsychotics. He didn’t disclose his addiction to the psychiatrist. After a few visits to my office and multiple medication adjustments and changes he was stabilized. He refused to see a psychotherapist because he doesn’t have insurance coverage. He refused to be referred anywhere because he doesn’t want anybody to know about his addiction. His delusion and hallucination were caused by the fact that he was sleeping poorly for many consecutive days and nights as he was watching porn videos. My personal opinion is that besides his addictive personality, the main reason he was watching porn and became addicted was the fact that he had nothing to do in his life. In an attempt to get him to find a job, I pushed him, but he quit after a week or so because it didn’t suit him. As he couldn’t wake up early, he quit his second job. A few weeks after his initial visit, he brought a form for filling out, stating that his previous psychosis was the cause of his disability. In my opinion, he is not disabled since he has a stable and reversible condition, and if he finds a job, he would have time to sleep during the night and would have money to see a psychotherapist to handle his addiction, which I was confident he would be able to lessen and dissipate if he continues working regularly. He was not happy with my answer. Nonetheless, I asked him to sign a consent authorizing me to report all his conditions, and that “I am not responsible for his disability outcome," which he did. As I filled out the form, I listed all his conditions, including his pornography addiction since I perceive it as a disorder rather than a choice. Mr. A ripped the form up before the front desk and left the clinic. After a few months, he returned with a new form and claimed his case worker had arranged for him to see a lawyer who told him his doctor must fill out the form and not mention anything he doesn’t want to include. According to him, the lawyer advised him to file a lawsuit against me if I declined his request. In essence, Mr. A threatened me with a complaint if I didn’t comply with his request. Though I wasn't sure if the lawyer had actually said that to Mr. A, I advised him to ask his lawyer to find him a new doctor. As a result, I wrote him a prescription for his medications for six months and told him to look for another doctor. Since then, I haven't seen him. As a result of this incident, I wondered if what the psychiatrist told me was actually true. How do we proceed if we think the patient is ineligible? Do we really have to fill out disability forms? Do we have the option of omitting a medical condition at the request of a patient? What would you do differently if Mr. A were your patient? Dr. Jabir Jassam is a family physician in Ottawa.

Are we obligated to fill out disability forms?

Register for free access or login.

Related Topics