Sickle Cell Disease and Social Security Disability

Sickle Cell Disease - Condition and Symptoms

Sickle Cell Disease is a genetically inherited blood disorder characterized by abnormal mutations of red blood cells. Also known as Sickle Cell Anemia or drepanocytosis, the condition causes blood cells to assume a rigid crescent, or “sickle,” shape when starved of oxygen, rendering them unable to pass through healthy blood vessels and causing painful and potentially disabling complications. The most common types of Sickle Cell Disease are Sickle Cell Anemia, Sickle-Hemoglobin C Disease, Sickle Beta-Plus Thalassemia, and Sickle Beta-Zero Thalassemia.

Sick Cell Disease is prevalent in the United States, with approximately 1 in 5000 people suffering from the condition. The genetic mutation that causes the disease is known to be inherited, however, and it is found much more frequently in black Americans of Sub-Saharan African descent.

Sickle Cell Disease directly affects the body’s red blood cells, which are made up mostly of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin helps red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Normally, red blood cells live for about 120 days before new ones replace them, and are soft and pliable enough to squeeze through tiny blood vessels, enabling the delivery of oxygen to the body.

In people suffering from Sickle Cell Disease, red blood cells contain mostly hemoglobin S, an abnormal type of hemoglobin that causes the cells to become crescent shaped, stiff, and inflexible. Sickle cells live only about 16 days, and have difficulty passing through small blood vessels causing blockages. When the blood vessels are blocked, less blood reaches that area of the body, and eventually leading to organ and tissue damage due to oxygen and nutrient starvation.

Such organ damage is what produces the complications of Sickle Cell Disease, which can include anemia, jaundice, and gallstones. Blocked blood flow can result in damage to spleen, kidneys, liver, and lung tissue (acute chest syndrome), pain in the chest, abdomen, and extremities, stroke, and priapism (painful prolonged erection). Damage to the spleen makes Sickle Cell Disease patients especially vulnerable to certain bacterial infections.

Symptoms of Sickle Cell Disease can vary widely. In addition to anemia, which is commonly manifested by fatigue, shortness of breath, dizziness, head ache, coldness in the hands and feet, pale skin and chest pains, Sickle Cell disease will often cause extremely painful episodes known as “Sickle Cell Crisis” (which includes Vaso-occlusive crisis caused by the inhibition of oxygen delivery to major organs), severe infections due to compromised immune system function, and even massive organ failure. All of these complications result from the inability of the suffering individual’s blood to deliver oxygen to important tissues and organs throughout the body.

Although the diagnosis of Sickle Cell is straightforward and simple blood work such as Sickle Solubility tests and Hemoglobin Electrophoresis tests can be used to screen for the disease, there is no cure for Sickle Cell. The condition is generally treated with transfusions and medication to help alleviate the pain associated with Sickle Cell Crisis.

Filing for Social Security Disability with a Sickle Cell Disease Diagnosis

The Social Security Administration’s disability evaluation will focus on the physical effects of an afflicting condition and the limits imposed on the day-to-day activities of the claimant. Therefore, the Social Security Administration (SSA) will be examining whether the effects of your Sickle Cell Disease limit your activities enough to support a disability claim.

The criteria for Sickle Cell Disease are found in Section 7.02 of the SSA Blue Book, under “Hematological Disorders.” For Sickle Cell Disease to be considered severe enough to meet the SSA’s listing criteria, you must have a documented diagnosis of Sickle Cell Disease, together with at least one the following:

  1. Documented painful (thrombotic) crises occurring at least three times during the 5 months prior to the disability determination; OR
  2. Sickle cell crises requiring extended hospitalization at least 3 times during the 12 months before disability determination; OR
  3. Chronic, severe anemia with persistence of hematocrit levels of 26 percent or less; OR
  4. The SSA must be able to evaluate the impairment resulting from Sickle Cell Disease under the criteria for the affected body system (for example, if your lungs are damaged by Sickle Cell Disease, the severity of symptoms relating to the lungs must meet the criteria for disability under the parameters of the specific listing that covers Affected Body Symptoms).

When applying for disability, it is extremely important that you gather medical documentation showing your initial diagnosis, your treatments, your hospitalizations, and the way the disease has interfered with your life and ability to work. In addition, medical records documenting the specific effect that Sickle Cell Disease has had on your body’s organs (spleen, kidneys, liver, etc.) will support your disability claim via Affected Body Systems under the SSA’s listing guide.

Your Sickle Cell Disease Disability Case

If you suffer from Sickle Cell Disease so severe that it prevents you from working, you may be entitled to benefits under Social Security Disability. By working closely with medical professionals and a qualified Social Security disability attorney or advocate to collect and present the appropriate documentation to support your Sickle Cell claim, you can help to ensure that your Sickle Cell Disease disability case will have the highest possible chance of success.

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