Long Term Disability Law Blog
In this video, Gregory Dell and Stephen Jessup discuss a case they resolved for a radiologist who filed a disability claim with Unum due to severe depression and anxiety. The client specialized in reviewing breast cancer scans and had reached a point where her mental health conditions left her unable to focus, causing her to fear missing a cancerous tumor and potentially causing a misdiagnosis. A key challenge was that she had been treating for depression and anxiety for five to six years while continuing to work, which gave Unum an opening to argue that nothing had meaningfully changed to justify disability.
A critical strategy in the case was obtaining neuropsychological testing before filing the claim. Although the client didn’t have a formal cognitive disorder, the testing revealed significant problems with recall, attention, and executive functioning tied to her mental health condition — providing the kind of objective evidence that mental health claims typically lack. The testing also ruled out malingering, preemptively removing a common line of attack insurers use to deny these claims. By securing this evidence early, the attorneys were able to build a case strong enough that Unum had few avenues to challenge it.
The attorneys also highlight broader tips for radiologists and others with mental health–based claims: encourage treating psychologists and psychiatrists to write thorough, detailed notes rather than brief shorthand, since insurers will exploit thin records; understand that disability carriers tend to push claimants back to work quickly on anxiety and depression claims; and consider getting professional guidance before filing, especially when there’s a long treatment history that an insurer might use to argue the condition was manageable all along.