Chronic Pain - Not Good Enough For LTD?

by Share Lawyers Share Lawyers

Alessandro is a 41 year old tailor who worked at his family’s business - a high-end suit shop - ever since he was a teenager. As soon as he graduated high school, he began to work full-time at the shop.

After a few years, the shop was bought out by a larger company, but the new owners happily kept Alessandro as an employee. He had the right amount of passion and a good reputation with a lot of local clients.

Throughout many years of intricate and exhausting handiwork, Alessandro experienced bouts of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, but his symptoms were usually manageable after a day or two with a brace around his wrist and some icing in the evenings. Eventually, the pain wasn’t just in Alessandro’s hands; he started to have consistent pain in his elbows and lower back. As he got older, the numbness and pain didn’t go away as fast as it did in the past.

It got to the point where Alessandro was in pain every day. The pain was affecting his work and his home life - his girlfriend could always tell when the pain was bad, as Alessandro would lose his patience easily and experience severely low energy after work.

Alessandro finally went to his doctor. After Alessandro admitted to years of trying to manage his pain himself, his doctor diagnosed him with chronic pain. The pain medication he was prescribed didn’t seem to help. Alessandro was referred to many different specialists to figure out methods of pain management - from physiotherapy to massage, to pain injections and acupuncture, but none of them helped. And although all their methods were different, all specialists advised the same thing: he shouldn’t be working. As much as Alessandro wanted to be at the shop, he decided that he should focus on managing the pain and stopped working. He received EI sick benefits for 15 weeks and then applied for long term disability benefits.

When Alessandra finally heard back from his insurance company, he was shocked that his claim was denied. The insurance company believed that Alessandro could find another job. Being a tailor was the only job that Alessandro had ever had - and he wasn’t healthy enough to start from scratch in a new profession. In his circumstances, he wouldn’t be able to find a job that paid as well as custom tailoring. The chronic pain wasn’t the only thing affecting his sleep anymore - he lay awake many nights not only from pain, but trying to figure out a way to get some form of income. After another specialist diagnosed him with generalized anxiety, he felt like he was at his limit.

During one of his late nights, he happened to click onto the Share Lawyers website. After reading many of the testimonials on their blog, he felt inspired to reach out and called them the next morning. A few days later, Alessandro met with Samantha Share and he felt at ease and that finally there was a person and a team determined to give him the help he needed.

After collectively working with Alessandro’s many medical specialists, Share Lawyers was able to negotiate a settlement during mediation that paid him all the money that they owed and future benefits. Alessandro was overwhelmed with relief, and pleased that he had contacted Share Lawyers. He was able to continue seeking the physical and mental help that he needed, without worrying about the financial implications.

This information is brought to you by Share Lawyers, Ontario's Leading Disability Insurance Lawyers.

[All names and identifying details have been changed to protect the confidentiality of all involved.]