Chronic Fatigue Syndrome – Medical Office Manager, 30 years old

Our client experienced a viral illness and soon thereafter he began to experience episodes of severe fatigue. He would be able to work one day, and then be exhausted for 2 to 3 days afterwards and this cycle grew progressively worse to the point where he could no longer work. After an extensive work-up and seeing multiple specialists for approximately two years, a diagnosis of chronic fatigue syndrome was made. Our client filed an original claim on his own and the claim was denied. He contacted our office to help him file a request for reconsideration which was also denied.

We filed a request for a hearing before an administrative law judge and were able to obtain a supporting chronic fatigue syndrome questionnaire from our client’s primary care provider. The judge found that our client was limited to sedentary work and would be absent from work more than 2 days per month. A vocational expert testified at the hearing that two or more days of absence from work per month would not be tolerated by an employer. The judge awarded our client disability benefits and issued a fully favorable decision.